


Bruce and Damian's Excellent Adventure

by Titch360



Category: Batman - All Media Types
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-12-19
Updated: 2016-12-19
Packaged: 2018-09-09 19:14:05
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 39,879
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8908657
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Titch360/pseuds/Titch360
Summary: Let's just hope it doesn't turn into a Bogus Journey.





	

Bruce and Damian’s Excellent Adventure

 

Damian sighed as he stepped off of the elevator onto the top floor of Wayne Tower.  He walked forward and placed a small stack of envelopes on the abandoned secretary’s desk in front of his father’s office.  It was unusual for the desk to be empty any time Bruce was in the building, but Damian supposed even long-time secretaries needed to use the restroom occasionally.

Waiting for the elevator car to come back to the top floor, a sweet voice called out behind the boy, “Well, this is a treat.  Hello, young man.”

Damian kept his eye roll in check and turned around.  “Hello, Jean,” he said in a soft voice.

She shot the boy a compassionate gaze and asked, “Oh, what is that tone for?  It’s Friday.  You’re supposed to be happy at work on Friday’s.”

Damian heaved a sigh, “I suppose.”

Jean walked up to the boy and gently placed a hand on his shoulder.  “Still upset about Gina, I suppose?”

Damian’s head shot up and he said, “Robin.  Gina is her sister.  And…yes, I miss her.”

“How long has it been now?  A couple weeks, right?”

Damian looked down again, “Nineteen days.  Nineteen days since she told me she was moving.  Fourteen days since they left.  Four days since we spoke.”

Jean gave Damian an unexpected hug and said, “You really miss her.  It’ll get better, honey.”

Damian looked up, ready to ask when it would get better, when Bruce’s voice came over the intercom on the secretary’s desk.  “Damian, would you come in here for a few minutes?”

Damian looked around, his jaw hanging, “What, did you put in security cameras?”

“Yes,” the disembodied voice said, a hint of mirth in its tone.  “Just for a couple minutes, please?”

Damian shrugged and headed away from the just-opening elevator door.

“You wanted to see me, Mr. Wayne?”

Bruce stood and said, “Yeah, come here for…Mr. Wayne?  Where did that come from?”

Damian shrugged as he slouched in a chair in front of the desk.  “We’re at work.  Shouldn’t we be professional?”

Bruce sat again, eyeing his son, “In front of others, yes.  You don’t have to be that formal when it is just us in here.”

Damian looked at the front of the desk, instead of at his father, and said, “Yes, Father.”

Bruce had to stop himself from snorting out a laugh at Damian’s normal tone, which still rang with formality.  “How are you doing, son?”

Damian just sighed, barely glancing at his father.

Bruce gave a sad smirk, “Dumb question, I know.  You know there was nothing I could do to get them to stay.  Even if they moved because Gotham isn’t safe, and they went through a traumatic experience, Mike Abbey has legitimate business in Alaska.  He told me that, before all this happened, he was considering a move.”

Damian sniffed and said softly, “It hurts, Father.”

“Why?” Bruce asked, “You two didn’t break up, you still talk to her.  She just moved.”

“Yes, Father.  Four thousand miles away.  We have no chance of seeing each other now.  We talk twice a week, instead of twice a day, now.  I don’t know if I can handle only seeing her on a computer screen.”

Bruce cocked his head to the side, “Wasn’t the whole long distance relationship thing your idea?”

“Yes, but I didn’t think I would miss her this much.”

“It’s not forever, Damian.”

Damian looked down and wiped at his nose, a thumb discreetly wiping at a moist eye.  “Did you want to see me for any special reason, Father?  I think I still have a few more deliveries to make.”

Bruce nodded, “Yes, I did.  I have a very important question to ask you.  Do you like your job, Damian?  I want you to be completely honest with me here.”

Damian thought for a second before saying, “I liked it a lot better before the audits.”

Bruce gave an inquisitive look, clearly not anticipating this answer.  “Why do you say that?”

Damian sighed, “Before the audits, I was actually doing what you wanted me to do.  I was working in the building, among the actual workers.  Since the audits happened, and they were my fault, no matter how much you try to spin them, I’ve been either in the mailroom or delivering to the executives.  The mailroom is fine, but I didn’t earn the right to be delivering up here.”

Bruce gave a small smile and opened his mouth to ask a question.  Damian predicted the question and cut him off.  “Even in the mailroom, there is a hierarchy.  I should be on the bottom, or below the bottom, since I don’t officially work here.  However, Jerry needs me to be able to make deliveries, since William is on vacation, and the hole I’m filling is only filled part-time.  It is only safe for me to be delivering to the executive floors, because no one up here is going to complain about me, so Howard had to take a lesser route in order to get all of us out, and all the mail delivered.”

Bruce smiled at the description.  It was nice to see and hear Damian motivated about something other than how sad he was about missing Robin.

The boy sighed, “Maybe I should just have Jerry leave me in the mail room to do all the sorting.  It would be better that way.”

“Better for whom?” Bruce asked.  “Aren’t you making deliveries because you’re short-staffed, and the mail needs to get out?”

“Yes, Father, but it still isn’t fair to the rest of the workers.  Just because our name is on the side of the building, I get a prime delivery route?”  Damian shook his head, “I should go, Father.  I think Jerry said there were more deliveries that had to go out today.  Was there anything else?”

Bruce shook his head reluctantly as Damian stood.  There was more, but Bruce didn’t feel right bringing it up right now.  “That’s alright, son.  Go ahead, but be back here in half an hour.”

“Why, Father?”

Bruce smiled, “The day is almost over.  You want a ride home, don’t you?”

Half an hour, and one final delivery later, Damian was back in Bruce’s outer office, sitting and waiting for Bruce to finish up.  After waiting for several minutes, Bruce’s voice came over the intercom.

“Jean, is Damian out there yet?”

Damian rolled his eyes and walked over to the desk.  Pushing the button for the intercom, Damian said, “Jean left already, Father.  I’ve been waiting for you for the past ten minutes.”

Bruce sounded stunned, “Why didn’t you just come in, Damian?”

“I didn’t want to bother you while you were working, Father,” Damian said in a small voice.

A small laugh sounded, “I’ve been waiting for you.  We could have left ten minutes ago.”

In the car, Damian asked, “Father, why were you concerned whether I liked my job or not?”

Bruce smiled, “Several reasons.  I’m concerned about you, for one.  As much as you and I are alike, I still have a hard time judging your emotional states.  You’ve had a lot of changes lately.  I just want to make sure you’re still okay.”

“You don’t have to worry about me, Father.  I can handle anything Wayne Enterprises can throw at me.”

Bruce smirked and mumbled, “Remember you said that.”

Damian looked over, a slow smirk working its way across his lips.  “I like a challenge, Father.  You know that.”

“I do,” Bruce said, “Anyway, back to what I was saying.  Jerry and Lucius both called me today to talk about you.”

Damian was suddenly nervous, “What did I do wrong?”

“Don’t worry, you didn’t do anything.  They are both concerned about you.  Seems you haven’t been your smiling, jolly self lately.”  Damian snorted at the description, which was just about as far from his norm as possible.  “For roughly the past two weeks, or so.  I explained why, and they understood, but they both suggested that you might need a break.”

Damian’s eyes widened, “Father, no.  Please don’t take me off work.  That’s the only thing that is distracting me right now.  I’ll change, Father, I promise.  Please, Father.”

Bruce was shocked at the pleading from his youngest.  The tone sounded like nothing Bruce had ever heard from Damian.  Stopped at a red light, Bruce met Damian’s eyes.  The boy broke eye contact first and mumbled, “You agree with them, don’t you.”

Bruce sighed, “I don’t disagree with them.  However, I know that forcing you to take time off will hurt you more than just ignoring everything that’s happened.  So, I’ve come up with a third option, one suited to your special talents.”

“That’s what you said about the mailroom, Father.”

“Was I wrong?” Bruce asked with a smile.

Damian shrugged, “Not necessarily.”

Bruce rolled his eyes, “Thanks for the vote of confidence.”

“So, what is this new master plan of yours?”

Bruce’s smile continued, “Week after next, I leave on my business trip.”

“The World Tour,” Damian said sadly.

Bruce chuckled, “Is that what Dick is calling it?”  Damian nodded, and Bruce continued, “Well, it’s appropriate.  I have stops all over the world.”  Bruce caught a frown on his son’s face, “What’s wrong?”

“Are you still planning on being gone for three weeks?”

Bruce smiled, “Are you going to miss me?”

Damian looked up, indignant, “I have…grown accustomed to your presence, Father.  Your extended absence is…” Damian trailed off, having trouble finding the right words to express himself.

Bruce reached over and grabbed Damian’s hand gently.  “You won’t miss me, son.”

Damian’s head snapped over to glare at his Father, “How can you say something like that?  Do you really think I care that little about you?”

Bruce spoke softly, but confidently, “Master plan, remember?  You won’t miss me because I want you to come with me.”

Damian stared for just short of a minute.  “You want me to go with?  As what, your valet?  Am I a portable Pennyworth, now?  I may be small, but I don’t fit into overhead storage compartments anymore.”

Bruce laughed, “Just hear me out.  I can take you with and play it off as showing my future replacement the ropes.  It will be your company someday, after all.  Just like starting you in the mailroom was meant to teach you about the office, this trip will be about teaching you the business.  Also, it gets you out of the office for a while, so you can relax a bit, and hopefully see that life isn’t as bad as it looks right now, and Jerry and Lucius can get off my back about how sad you seem lately.”

Damian looked a bit confused, “You want me to relax, on a business trip?  Isn’t that a waste of company resources?”

Bruce shrugged and smirked, “It’s my company, and I _might_ have scheduled a few extra days into the itinerary than are absolutely necessary for that purpose.  We can’t be showing up for meetings jet-lagged.”

“I guess not, Father,” Damian said, thinking about the possibilities.

“Also, if you don’t come, then I will have to hire an interpreter.  That…didn’t work out so well the last time I had to do that.”

Damian asked, interestedly, “Where exactly are you…we going on this trip?”

Bruce smiled brightly when Damian all but said he wanted to go.  “First stop is in England.”

Damian snorted, “You don’t actually need an interpreter there, Father.  I might, though.  You know that English isn’t my first language.”

“I know son.  Our second stop should be right up your alley, though.  We have a contract negotiation with a shipping company in Morocco.  My Arabic is not nearly as good as yours.”

Damian’s jaw dropped, “…Morocco?” he whispered.  “You want to take me to Morocco?”

Bruce grinned, “Dick said you would like that stop.  After Morocco…”

Damian interrupted, “Why do we have to leave Morocco?”

Bruce ignored him, “After Morocco, we have a stop in Shanghai, among other places in China.  I don’t speak Chinese at all.  Japanese, yes.  A little Vietnamese and Korean, sure, but no Chinese.  I understand that you’re fluent.”

Damian shrugged, “That depends on the dialect.  I speak Mandarin, and a little Cantonese.  Anything other than that, and we’re screwed.”

“After that, we have a short stop in San Francisco, and a couple other stops around the country, before returning home in time for you to start school again.”

Damian’s face fell at the mention of that particular six letter word.  “About that, Father.  Is the offer of home schooling still on the table?”

Bruce looked concerned, “Why do you ask?  Do people pick on you at school?  If anything, I thought you used to be the bully.”

“I was, Father.  You know I stopped that.  It’s just…the reason I wanted to go back is gone now.”

_That’s right, he won’t be able to see Robin everyday now, like he had hoped,_ Bruce thought.  “I think you’re aware, Damian, that there is more to school than spending time with your girlfriend?  School isn’t so much a choice as a necessity.  There are truancy laws against not going at your age.”

Damian thought Bruce would say something like that, and had a couple arguments lined up.  “Can I work out a deal to work ahead, then?  Something like Drake did?  I’m already two years ahead.  I could be finished with high school by this time next year.”

“I’m not sure that’s the best option for you,” Bruce said quietly, “I know you can handle the work, but there is the socialization aspect of school that would be missing.”

Damian grumbled, “What socialization aspect?  Most everyone ignores me there.  I’m three years younger than my classmates.  They don’t want to have anything to do with me, and those in the lower grades are pedantic morons.”

Bruce held his tongue in pointing out that his girlfriend was one of those in the lower grades as he gave a sick grin.  _So like Dick at that age, no self-confidence, when he should be overflowing with it._   “You know, Dick didn’t start making friends at school until he was about your age.”

“Yeah, but Grayson actually has a personality.  I…don’t.”

Bruce looked at Damian strangely, “You have a personality.”

Damian snorted, “More like a personality disorder.”

Bruce smiled sadly, “It takes time, Damian.  You’ll find your niche.”

Damian took a deep breath, “In that case, Father, I request to transfer schools.”

Bruce was stunned by the request.  “Transfer schools?  What’s wrong with the Warrington School?  Every Wayne male has graduated from there since the inception of the school.  Do you really want to change two hundred years of tradition?”

“I want to go to a school where I might fit in.”  Damian had purposefully put a sad tone in his voice, hoping to unduly influence Bruce.

They got out of the car, and Bruce saw genuinely fake puppy dog eyes, a look Bruce was certain he had picked up from Dick.  He grabbed the boy in an overly dramatic hug, petting the side of Damian’s face as he simpered, “Oh, my poor baby.  I know, school is hard.  People are mean.  No one should ever be mean to my baby.”

Trying not to laugh, Damian pushed his father away gently.  “Are you through, Father?”

Bruce laughed, “That look really doesn’t work for you, Damian.  Maybe if you were a bit smaller, and your eyes weren’t so sharp.  I think you’re definitely hitting another growth spurt.”

Damian persisted, “Will you at least consider it?”

“Do you have a school in mind?”

“Yes, Father.”

Bruce was a bit surprised.  _He must have been thinking about this for a while, if he already had researched schools and has one picked out._   “Okay, I’ll think about it.  Which school were you thinking of?”

Damian smiled, “Lathrop High School.”

Bruce stared at the boy as they walked into the house.  “I know that name from somewhere.”  Bruce stopped in his tracks, grabbing Damian’s shoulder.  “Didn’t you tell me that Robin will be going there?  You’re kidding, right?  You want me to send you to Alaska so you can attend school with your girlfriend?  Where would you stay?”

Damian shrugged as a small smile crept onto his lips, “Property is cheap in Alaska, Father.  We could buy a cabin, or something.”

“No.”

The small smile grew wider, “I could stay with the Abbey’s.  I’m small.  I don’t eat a lot.  I would only take up a small corner of Robin’s bed.”

The glare Bruce was sending Damian intensified, “I’m going to pretend you didn’t say that.”

Damian looked down, “Yes, Father.”

“Here’s something you probably didn’t think about.  Are you willing to give up Robin for Robin?  Alaska doesn’t need a teenaged vigilante, running around and punching bears.  I’m sorry, Damian, but the answer is no.”

Damian heaved a deep sigh, looking at the floor, “I know.  I had to try, though.”

Damian started to slowly walk to his room.  Bruce stopped him two steps up the staircase and sighed.  “When school starts again, you can talk to your guidance counselor and see what is involved in finishing early.  If you want to follow in Tim’s footsteps, who am I to try to stop you?  That means, though, if the school does let you finish early, you _will_ be enrolling in college next fall.  I don’t know what your plans in that direction were, if you even had any post high school education plans, but if you graduate early, not going will no longer be an option.  I’m fine with it being online classes, but you have to do something until you’re eligible to get a job.  You can start working at sixteen, but you can’t start at Wayne Enterprises until you’re eighteen.  There are no exceptions on that, not even for family.  You will have to find a productive way to keep yourself busy until then.”

A true smile crossed Damian’s face.  “Thank you, Father.  I won’t let you down.”

Bruce matched the smile as Damian walked up the stairs with something nearing a spring in his step.  Bruce thought to himself, _no, I don’t think you will._

As Damian crested the top of the stairs, Bruce called out, “Hey!  You never gave me an answer to the business trip.”

Damian looked over the bannister and said, “I didn’t?”

“No, you didn’t.”

Damian smiled, “Sounds like fun, Father.”

Bruce returned the smile, “Excellent.”

_Two Weeks Later…_

Bruce put the latest in a long series of work reports down and rubbed his eyes.  He was trying to get some last minute work done before he and Damian left in the morning.  After another minute, he cocked his head, listening to the music coming from across the hall.  It had made his work go just a little easier when Alfred left the door to his study open after bringing in Bruce’s last cup of coffee.  A smile had crossed his face as he realized that Damian had chosen to turn his recent emotional state into music.  Now, as the same song started for the fourth time in the last hour and a half, Bruce had to see if Damian was taking requests, and try to get him to play something else.

Bruce crossed the hall and, walking up to the piano in the center of the ballroom, said loudly, “I’m all for practicing, Damian, but do you think you could move on to another song?”

Damian slammed his fists down on the keyboard before throwing his head back and releasing a wordless scream of frustration.  He turned to the laptop sitting on the bench next to him and violently hit a couple keys.  He then turned to Bruce, his eyes blazing.  “Damn it, Father.  You couldn’t have waited another three minutes?  I was recording that.”

Bruce winced, “Sorry, son.  Is that why you’ve been playing the same song for three days?”

“Yes,” Damian snapped, “I’m trying to do something here.  If people would quit interrupting me, I wouldn’t have to play the same song for three days.  I would have been done by now.”

“Well, what are you trying to do?”

Damian sighed as Bruce sat on the edge of the piano bench.  He closed his laptop and placed it on top of the piano so he could scoot over and make more room for his father.  “I was talking to Robin a few nights ago.  She was telling me how sad she’s been since we’ve been apart.  Then she said she has been trying to distract herself from missing me by playing music.  See, she plays the flute.  She was in the school band, I guess.  I didn’t pay too much attention to those things while I was there.  Robin said she is going to sign up for the school band in Alaska, once school starts.  Through that, she has developed an appreciation of classical music.  I told her that I play, too, and I would send her something.  I’ve been trying to get something down for the last three days, but people keep interrupting me.”

Bruce looked thoughtful, “That song you were playing sounded familiar.  What was it?”

“The Brandenburg Concerto.  I heard it last week and thought it would be good to try to reproduce.”

Bruce’s expression changed to one of confusion.  “Were you having trouble with it on the violin?  I noticed you switched from the violin to the piano yesterday.”

Damian blushed a bit.  “No.  I’ve been trying to work out a…a duet of sorts.  I would try for a quartet arrangement, but we don’t have a French Horn.  I wish I played the Cello; it would sound much better with a Cello.”

Bruce cocked his head with a slight smile.  “Why have you been replaying the same song for three days?”

“I’ve been trying to match tempo.  It makes editing the parts together much easier.  Like I said, I would have been done by now, if people didn’t keep interrupting me.”

Bruce smiled softly, “I’m sorry about that.  If you didn’t want to be bothered, why didn’t you just use the music room?”

Damian’s jaw dropped as he slowly turned his head to look at his father.  “The _what?_ ”

“The music room.”

Damian looked at Bruce like he had grown a second head.  “We _have_ a music room?”

Bruce’s smile grew, “Of course.  My mother was a patron of the arts.  She loved to play music.  It must be where you get your talent from.  It definitely skipped a generation.  No one’s been in there in years.  If I remember right, the piano in there is even nicer than this one.  There might even be a Cello in there, if you wanted to learn.  Not sure about a French Horn, though.”

“Father, I’ve lived here for almost three years.  Why am I just hearing about this now?”

“It’s a big house, you can’t expect me to remember what is in every room.”

Damian shrugged and said, “Where is it?”

Bruce inclined his head in the general direction, “In the very back of the house.  Go down the back hallway, past your little hideaway, take a right, then a left, then another right, until you come to a staircase.  Go up it, and it is the room on the right.”

Damian’s eyes widened.  He said softly, “How long have you known?”

Bruce smirked, “Since you had the chair delivered.  You’re sneaky, but this is my house.”

“You didn’t say anything.”

Bruce placed a hand on Damian’s shoulder, “Because I feel I know you.  You’re a lot like me.  I know just how much time I need to myself.  I figure it’s only fair that you get time of your own.  Having a space that’s all yours isn’t a crime.”

Damian sighed, “It’s not really mine, though, is it?”

Bruce nodded, “It’s true, others know about it, but it _is_ yours.  We all agreed that it is your space.  We won’t bother you there.”

Damian winced and said, “You don’t…I mean…It’s not really a bother, if you wanted to…you know…stop by?”

Bruce squeezed his son’s shoulder, “You sure?”

Damian shrugged as the hand worked its way slowly up to rub his neck.  “It’s mostly your stuff, anyway.”

“It’s nice that some of that old stuff is being used again.  Jason tells me that you have a nice setup there.”

Damian was shocked, “You haven’t seen it?”

“Like I said, it’s your space.”

Damian looked down as the hand continued to soothe his neck, “Well, we invade your study all the time.  I guess turnabout is fair play.  Maybe…maybe I can show you that on the way to the music room.  I think…I think I would like a guide to help me find the room.”

Bruce knew that Damian didn’t need a guide to find the music room, but he was happy anytime that his youngest reached out to him.  “I guess it’s only fair,” Bruce said softly, “We didn’t tell you about the room before, after all.  I can show you where it is.”

They both stood, and Damian unhooked his laptop and said, “Can you grab the microphone, Father?”

Bruce pulled the device from the instrument and wrapped the cord around the base.  Damian was waiting for him at the door of the ballroom, and Bruce could swear that he looked excited.

In the back hallway, Bruce said, “If you wanted something out of the way, you found it.”

Damian nodded as he opened the door to his nest.  It had been over a week since he had entered the space, and a small smile crossed his face as he took a step inside.  Bruce stood next to the boy, his hand unconsciously working its way to the back of Damian’s neck again.

“Nice space you have here,” Bruce mumbled, “I wondered where that other chair went.”

Bruce smiled as he saw the family crest rotating on the computer screen setup, directly across from the door.  He then turned and looked at the drafting table.  Damian said quietly, “That’s where I drew the scrapbook for you, Father.”

“Then it’s a good thing you found it.”

Bruce turned to stare at the wall of weapons in shock, while Damian wandered over to his desk.  “What the hell,” Damian mumbled.

“What’s wrong, son?”  Bruce came and stared over Damian’s shoulder.  On the desk lay two Glock handguns.  They were far more modern than anything hanging on the wall.  “Where did you get those,” Bruce asked accusingly.

“They aren’t mine, Father.”

“I’d like a better explanation than that, Damian,” Bruce said sternly.

“So would I, Father.”

Cocking his head, Damian pulled a note from underneath the pair of pistols.  He read it out loud while Bruce read over his shoulder.  “Something for the wall.  I got new ones.  Signed RH.”

Bruce sighed, “Jason.  I should have known.”

Damian looked up and said, “I thought you said you all agreed not to come here.”

“I thought we did, too.”

Damian picked up both weapons and performed a quick safety check on them.  Finding each one to be safely unloaded, Damian opened a desk drawer and put them inside.  Bruce was startled with how comfortable his youngest seemed to be in handling firearms.  He knew Damian had extensive weapons training, but it had been so long since the topic came up, that Bruce had forgotten.

The boy looked like he just remembered something, and turned to the file cabinet.  Opening the bottom drawer, he found it empty, with another slip of paper on the bottom, bearing the word ‘thanks’.

“Thanks for what,” Bruce asked.

Damian crumpled the note and growled, “Todd cleaned out my entire snack drawer.  That was a mistake on his part; he took my snacks and left me weapons.”

Feeling the need to protect his second son, Bruce said, “I’m sure he didn’t mean it.  Come on, let’s find the music room.”

Damian grumbled, mostly under his breath, about the difficulty of sneaking snacks into the manor, until they reached the outside of the music room.  Bruce stopped before the door and asked, “What are your thoughts so far?”

Damian looked around and said, “I didn’t even know this part of the house existed.”

“Dad remodeled this area to be a special place for mom.  I think they would both love knowing that you are interested in using it.  As the musician in the family, I want you to think of this room as yours.”

Bruce pushed open the door and allowed Damian to enter first.  He made it three steps into the large space before stopping with his jaw hanging.  He took in the room with a sense of wonder, a small ‘wow’ escaping his lips.

The room was octagonal, with floor to ceiling windows looking out towards the woods behind the north side of the manor.  A great chandelier hung from the twenty-foot high ceiling, sparkling in the diffuse light pouring in through the windows.  A massive grand piano dominated the center of the room.  Various other instruments were set up around the outside of the room.  Damian noticed several instruments set up that seemed to be there just for him.  A classical guitar, violin, French Horn, and clarinet had been placed on stands next to a window, near the piano bench.  The room appeared to be clean and dusted, as if Alfred had recently cleaned the area.

“What do you think,” Bruce asked softly, his voice carrying through the room’s excellent acoustics.

“How long were you planning this before letting me know about the room?  There is no way that all of this was set up in the last half hour.”

Bruce sounded confused, “What do you mean?”

Damian pointed to the back of the room and said, “It can’t be a coincidence that the five instruments I play are all set up together in one spot.  It can’t be a coincidence that a room that even you forgot existed until an hour ago is clean and ready for use.”

A new voice sounded from the door.  “Are you telling me that I’ve been cleaning this room for years, and you didn’t know it was here, Master Damian?”

Bruce and Damian turned to find Alfred standing in the open doorway.  Damian replied, “I was not informed of its existence, no.”

“Hm.  I wondered why the instruments never looked like they moved.  Now that you know of its existence, are you going to make use of this space?”

Damian thought for a second before saying, “That depends.  Is there a cello in here?”

Alfred looked a bit confused as he walked over to a large case and said, “I was unaware that you played the cello, Master Damian.”

“I don’t,” Damian said, walking to Alfred’s side and inspecting the case, “But I’m going to teach myself how.”

Bruce smiled and said, “Why don’t you take the piano for a spin?  That’s why we came here.”

Damian gave a small smile and sat at the keyboard.  He started playing before Bruce and Alfred had a chance to pull up some chairs.  Several minutes later, he finished his melody, and Alfred and Bruce applauded politely.

“Well,” Bruce said, “Do you think you will like this room better?”

Damian shrugged, a slight grimace on his face as he looked around.  “The room, yes.  The piano, no.  This one obviously hasn’t been used in a long time.  It’s going to need some work.”

“I don’t take your meaning, young sir.”

“The piano is out of tune.”

Bruce cocked his head, “Sounded okay to me.”

“…Said the man with admittedly no musical talent.  It’s out of tune, just enough to be noticeable.”

Alfred shook his head, “I must agree with Master Bruce, it didn’t sound off to me.”

Damian sighed and said, “It sounds like it was tuned to itself, but the whole thing is off.”

Alfred shrugged, “I shall contact the piano tuner.  It will be done while you are on your trip.”

“Thank you, Pennyworth.”

“Now, I believe the both of you have just enough time to go and wash up before dinner.”

Bruce nodded and said, “Go on, Damian.  I’ll see you at dinner.  I want to have a quick word with Alfred.”

Damian nodded and scampered from the room.  Alfred turned to Bruce and said, “Yes, Master Bruce?”

Bruce sighed, “I know I shouldn’t be, but I’m still nervous about this trip, Alfred.”

“Whatever for, sir?”

Bruce looked down almost guiltily as he said, “I’m…I’ve never actually been alone with Damian before.  There has always been someone else around when we’re together.”

Alfred stared blankly, “I fail to see why that is a problem, sir.  He isn’t a stranger, he is your son.  You have more in common than you think.”

“Dick keeps telling me to just relax,” Bruce sighed, “and I want to believe that is all I need to do, but…I don’t know, Alfred.  It’s different with Damian.”

Alfred nodded sagely, “Yes, sir, it is.  You see, Master Damian is your son.  He is _yours_.  No matter how close you feel to the others, you feel a greater responsibility to Master Damian.  Any behavioral quirks of your other sons could be attributed to the fact that they all came from other families first.  To an extent, Master Damian did, as well, but he didn’t have to learn your little quirks and habits.  Even with his terrible upbringing at the hands of that woman, those quirks were naturally ingrained in him.  You see more of yourself in him than you did even in Master Dick.”

Bruce was quiet for a minute, thinking.  Alfred smiled and said softly, “Would it surprise you to know that Master Damian is feeling the same nerves you are?”

Bruce was shocked, “He is?  Why didn’t he tell me?”

“Why didn’t you tell him?” Alfred gently turned the question back on Bruce.  When no answer came, Alfred continued, “Master Damian and I had this same conversation yesterday, and we came to the same conclusion.  You both will survive, so long as you are able to ease up a bit.”

Bruce gave a thoughtful smile and said, “What if I don’t want to just survive?”

Alfred returned the smile and said, “They you should speak with the young sir, and maybe the two of you can work that out for yourselves.”

“He asked you the same thing,” Bruce asked, surprised.

“He is your son, sir.”

Bruce shook his head, “You’re not going to tell me what you told him, are you.”

Alfred smirked, “No, sir.  Just know that you both want more.  You are trying too hard, Bruce.  It isn’t natural.  Act naturally, and it will become much easier for the both of you.”

_Meanwhile…_

“Damian.”

The boy stopped on the threshold of his bedroom as his name was called behind him.  He turned and couldn’t quite stop the smile from crossing his face.

“Drake, hi.”

Tim caught the smile, and it sent a warm feeling through him.  “Are you all ready to go?”

Damian sighed and averted his eyes, “Yeah…sure.”

Tim’s smile slipped from his face, “…And you’re depressed because?”

“I’m not depressed, Drake.  I’m nervous.  Pennyworth says I shouldn’t be.”

Tim shook his head, “You shouldn’t be.  It’s your father, not a stranger.”

“We don’t…spend a lot of time together.  We hardly spend any time together.  I don’t know how I’m supposed to act around him.”

Tim smirked, “Why?  You’re a smart kid, Damian.  You figured out how to act around the rest of us, you can do the same thing with Bruce.  You should view this as an opportunity.  You get Bruce all to yourself for the next three weeks.  You don’t have to share him with anyone.  He’s even worked out a way to have you come to all of his meetings.  Face it, Damian, you two are going to bond, and I think you are trying to cover up how excited you are about that.”

A slow smile slipped onto Damian’s face as the knot of uncertainty in his gut loosened just a bit.  Tim patted the boy’s shoulder and asked, “Are you all packed?”

Damian nodded, “Yes, but I still don’t know why Father wants us to fly commercial.”

Tim looked concerned, “You’re going commercial?  You know that means you can’t take any weapons with you.  You will have to go through metal detectors and body scanners.”

Damian smiled and pulled a card out of his pocket.  “Won’t be a problem.”

“What’s this?”

“Father had Dr. Thompkins write that up.  It states that it is okay for me to set off metal detectors, because I have a surgically implanted metal knee replacement, and a surgically reinforced spine, following an automobile accident.”

Tim smiled as he handed back the card.  “That will get you past the metal detectors, but what about the body scanners?”

Damian pulled the right leg of his pants up to reveal a knee brace.  He twisted his leg, and a small knife fell out of one of the supporting braces.  Tim picked it up and was about to say he would never get it past security when he took a second look at the blade.  “Is this carbon fiber?”

Damian nodded with a big smile as Tim continued, “That’s…pretty cool.  Why a brace, though?  I mean, is it necessary?”

Damian sighed, “Unfortunately, yes.  I haven’t flown since the injuries, and we don’t know how it will react to altitude.  My knee has been bothering me lately, so Father thought this was prudent.  I just…improved it a little.”

Tim looked concerned, “Are you okay?  You seemed okay on patrol last night.”

Damian blushed a bit, “Technically, I’m fine.”

“What does that mean?”

Damian closed his eyes, hoping that Tim wasn’t going to make fun of him, “What I am is growing.  Since my right leg is interrupted now, it isn’t growing at the same rate as my left leg.  I’ve been able to compensate so far, but my right leg is currently close to a centimeter shorter than my left leg.  When we get back, Dr. Thompkins is going to examine me to see if the joint needs to be replaced.”

Tim looked vaguely sick as he said, “You won’t mind if I don’t come to the hospital for that surgery, will you?  I’ve seen more than enough of your insides, thank you.”

Damian smirked, “Actually, I was hoping that you would go in my place.  I’m not looking forward to another surgery, either.”

Both were quiet for a second before Tim said awkwardly, “So, you’re all packed?”

Damian was securing the knife back in his knee brace as he replied, “Yes, I’m ready to leave in the morning.”

“What are you bringing for the plane,” Tim asked curiously.

Damian didn’t look like he had thought about that, “What?”

“You’re going to be spending a lot of time in the air over the next three weeks.  How are you going to keep yourself entertained?”

The younger boy looked like he was thinking fast, “Um…well, my ipod, I guess.”

Tim gave a knowing smirk and said, “Come with me.”

Tim led Damian into the older man’s room.  Stopping at the desk, Tim pulled out a brown box and handed it to the boy.  Damian looked at the box strangely as he opened it and pulled out a Kindle.  “What’s this?”

“I was saving that for your birthday, but I think you can use it now, instead.”

Damian still looked confused, “I don’t get it.”

Tim pulled a crumpled, dirty, faded sheet of paper from the drawer, handed it to Damian, and said, “How about now?”

Damian read the faded list of book titles, recognizing his own handwriting on the page.  His memory flickered back to another time and place, and Tim’s whispered voice, saying ‘make a list’.  Damian looked up, wide eyed and slack jawed.

Tim smiled softly and said, “I found that in the pocket of your jumpsuit, before we burned it.  Those titles stuck out enough to you to write them down.  It’s only fair that you get a chance to read them.”

The boy, with shaking hands, quickly powered on the device, and found the list from the paper, in its entirety, on the contents screen.  “It’s all of them,” Damian asked in a whisper.

“Plus a couple more I thought you might like.  Some of the titles you chose were parts of a series.  I expanded those titles to include the whole series.”

Damian’s hands were shaking as he set the Kindle down on the desk and pressed himself against Tim in a tight hug.  Tim returned the embrace just as tightly.

“Thank you, Drake,” Damian sniffled out, trying not to cry at the special gift.  The fact that Tim had wanted to do something like that for him just blew him away.  “I knew you would be the one to look out for me.  Thank you for giving me a chance to give you a chance.”

“Thanks for taking the chance, Little D,” Tim whispered.

“So, did you tell him?”

Dick’s voice came from the open doorway.  Tim thought it was a sign of maturity that Damian didn’t immediately push Tim away and try to pretend that they hadn’t been hugging when they were caught.  _Maybe it’s because it’s Dick?_

“Not yet,” Tim said.

Damian didn’t let go, but he did take half a step back to look up into the older man’s face.  “Tell me what?  Are you tagging along on Father’s business trip?  Because, right now, I think I’m okay with that.”

Dick gave a large smile and said, “Seal of Approval, Timmy.”

Damian rolled his eyes and asked, “Well, what is it?”

“I’m moving back in,” Tim said with a smile.

Damian’s eyes widened just a bit, “When?”

“By the time you and Bruce get home, I’ll be here full time.”

“Why,” Damian asked curiously.

Tim shrugged, “I don’t need it anymore.  I don’t see a reason to stay away anymore.  Plus, they’re raising my rent.  Bruce pays me more than enough to cover the increase without even noticing it, but it is really the principle of the matter.  There is no need to be wasting extra money when it isn’t necessary.”

Damian looked confused, “But…isn’t it your building?  I mean, don’t they know that the urban renewal project that built that place was your idea?  Are they raising everyone’s rent, or just yours?”

Dick laughed and said, “I thought you were excited that Tim is moving in?”

“I am,” Damian said, before his eyes widened as he realized what Dick had just tricked him into admitting.  He then just shrugged at the smiles on his elder’s faces and said, “I am.  I’m just wondering about the circumstances.”

Dick caught sight of the clock on Tim’s nightstand and winced,” Let’s talk about it at dinner.  We’re late as it is.”

Damian matched the wince and made to leave the room.

“Where are you going?  Are you that hungry?” Tim asked with a smile.

“No, I’m going to wash up.  That’s the only reason I came up here in the first place.  Go on without me, there’s no use in all of us getting in trouble with Pennyworth.”

Dick and Tim’s laughs followed Damian as he left to his bathroom.  A minute later, he nearly ran into Dick as he rushed out of his room.  Dick caught his shoulders and gave him a smile.  “You can’t honestly think we would let you face his wrath alone, right?  Come on, let’s go.”

The three brothers walked into the dining room together, earning a large smile from Jason and a wince from Bruce.  Alfred brought in their plates as the brothers sat down.  “Thank you for being punctual for dinner, Master Jason.  I assume that the rest of you lost track of time?”

Damian opened his mouth, but Tim shook his head at the boy.  “My fault, Alfred.  I saw an opportunity to tell Damian my news, so I took it.”

“…And how was that news taken?” Bruce asked nervously.

Damian looked evenly at his father.  He wasn’t surprised that Bruce already knew what Damian had just been told, but he was a little miffed that, once again, he was the last one to know.  “As it should have been taken, Father.  It’s good news.  You won’t hear any arguments from me.”

A smile crossed Bruce’s face as he started eating, and he said, “Good.”

Damian gave a wry smile to the man and said, “He’s much easier to antagonize when he’s here, instead of across town.”

Tim dropped his fork while Bruce just rolled his eyes.

_Early the Next Morning…_

Alfred entered Bruce’s room to wake the man in the morning.  “Master Bruce, it is that time, sir.”

Bruce groaned and rolled over, trying to hide in his blankets.  “It can’t be time to get up yet.  It’s too early.”

It had not been a good night for sleep for Bruce.  Knowing that they had an early flight, Bruce and Damian had gone to bed early, in the hopes of being awake for their early departure.  However, knowing that his eldest three sons were patrolling his city without him did not allow for Bruce to relax until he heard Dick’s door open at 2:30am.  Now, at 5:30, the time he asked Alfred to wake him, Bruce was not anywhere near rested.

“Master Bruce, you need to get up and assist me with Master Damian.”

Bruce’s head popped up at that request.  “Is he giving you problems today?”

Alfred shook his head, “Master Damian is not in his room, sir.  I had hoped he would be in here.”

Bruce sat up, confused, “Not in his room?”

“No, sir.”

“Did you check Dick’s room?”

Alfred looked up from pulling out Bruce’s wardrobe, “Not yet, sir.  He returned very late this morning.  I don’t want to risk waking Master Dick.”

Bruce rubbed at his eyes, “I know.  Fine, Alfred.  I’ll do it.”

Bruce stumbled across the hall and softly opened Dick’s bedroom door.  Sure enough, he found his oldest and youngest sons.  Dick sat, half propped up on pillows against the headboard.  Damian had his head laid on the man’s chest, with his arms wrapped tightly around his brother.  Dick had an arm wrapped around Damian.  With his other hand, the first Robin held a finger over his lips, requesting for Bruce to stay quiet.

Bruce walked soundlessly to the bed and sat on the edge gently.  Dick looked back at the youth and said, “Not yet, Bruce.  He just dropped off a little bit ago.”

“Have you been up all night, chum,” Bruce whispered.

Dick yawned and whispered back, “Just about.  I was just getting to sleep when he came in.  Said he had a nightmare.”

Bruce sighed, “How long ago did he come in?”

Dick whispered, “Maybe twenty minutes after I came to bed.  It took him close to an hour to calm down enough to tell me what he saw.”

Bruce looked sadly at Damian and whispered, “What did he see?”

Damian whispered, as if still asleep, “We were gone.  Two Face broke out of Arkham Asylum and captured them.”

“Them?” Bruce asked.

“Grayson, Todd, and Drake,” Damian almost sighed.  “Two Face took them to the school, and was torturing them.  He killed them.  We could have stopped him, but we were on the other side of the planet.  We didn’t find out that they were…gone,” Damian’s voice grew strained at the word, “until we got home.”

Bruce reached over and placed a hand on Damian’s shoulder comfortingly, “Do you want to stay home, Damian?”

“No,” the boy said, not opening his eyes, “I want them to be more careful while we’re gone.”

Damian turned and buried his face in Dick’s chest.  Bruce could see the arm across Damian’s back tighten.  He looked up and whispered, “He has a point, chum.  You three need to watch out for each other while you’re here alone.”

“Don’t worry, Alfred will watch out for us.  If anyone needs to be careful, it’s you two.”

Bruce smiled and said, “Are you kidding?  Batman and Robin can take on anything.”

“How about Bruce and Damian,” Dick asked.

“How about Bruce and Damian,” Bruce repeated.

Damian’s muffled voice came from Dick’s chest, “They’re better than Batman and Robin.  There’s only one thing they can’t conquer.”

“What’s that,” Dick asked with a smile.

Damian turned his head and looked up at Dick, “Nightmares.”

Dick patted the boy’s back and said, “I’ll tell you a secret, which really isn’t a secret.  You’re cuddling with the wrong person.  Bruce is the one with the magical power to banish nightmares.”

“I’m not cuddling.  I’m just trying to reassure myself that my dream didn’t come true.  If that dream ever comes true, I’ll kill you, Grayson.”

Dick smiled and said, “If Two Face ever succeeds in kidnapping and murdering me, you have my permission to kill me.”

“I know you didn’t get a lot of sleep, but we really do have to get ready to go, Damian.”

Damian sighed and hugged Dick tighter.  “I know, Father.”

Letting go, Damian trudged from the room.  Bruce stayed for a minute longer and whispered to Dick, “Thanks, chum.  I don’t know what any of us would do without you.  Make sure we never find out, okay?”

Dick smiled, “It isn’t exactly something I’m looking forward to, either.”

Bruce stood to leave after giving Dick a tight hug.  “Get some sleep, pal.  We’ll see you in a couple weeks.”

Despite Bruce’s insistence that he go back to sleep, Dick, and a still half-asleep Tim, met the travelers at the door to say good-bye.  Damian looked around the entryway and snorted, “Todd doesn’t care that we’re leaving?”

Alfred spoke up as he returned to the foyer after pulling the car around, “Master Jason said he was working an early shift today.  He is already at work.”

“Oh,” Damian replied as Dick pulled him into a hug.

“Be good, Little D,” Dick whispered.

“Don’t get killed,” Damian replied, just as softly.

Meanwhile, Bruce was hugging Tim.  “Are you sure you want to move back in with these animals, after what Damian said last night?  Don’t get me wrong, I’m glad you’re coming home.  I just want to make sure everything is going to work out.”

Tim smiled, “Are you kidding?  It’s going to be great.  Anyway, even if he’ll never say it, I know Damian loves me.  He shows it in little ways.  Saying it’s fun to antagonize me really means he wants to spend time around me.”

Bruce stood back and raised an eyebrow at his son.  Tim’s smile grew.  “Dick has been giving me lessons in translating Damian-ese into English.  He can do the same for you, but you will probably be fluent by the time you get home.”

They switched partners for farewells, and Bruce was mildly surprised that Damian reached for Tim first.  Tim returned the embrace almost instantly, but the younger definitely made the first move.

“Keep him safe, Damian, and yourself, too.”

“You better keep your promise, Drake.”

Tim was confused, “What promise?”

“You better be living here by the time Father and I return.”

Tim grinned, “Dick is helping me move on Saturday.”

Damian looked up and smirked, “You just planned it on a day when I am away, and can’t find a reason to go through your stuff.”

Tim laughed softly, “Like you ever needed a reason before.  You aren’t as sneaky as you think you are.”

Bruce was still watching Tim and Damian as he hugged Dick.  “When did they get to be so close, Dick?”

“That’s your fault, Bruce.  You sent them away to become brothers.  They did.”  Dick hugged Bruce tighter, “You have nothing to worry about.  We are going to be fine, and you two are going to bond so much on this trip.  You are doing the right thing in bringing him along.  Are you still nervous?”

Bruce sighed as he saw a small smile on Damian’s face, “No.  Damian is right, though.  Don’t get killed.”

“Love you, too, Dad,” Dick laughed.

After another set of goodbyes with Alfred at the airport, and a surprisingly quick trip through security and TSA lines, Bruce and Damian were finally seated in their first-class accommodations for the trip across the pond.

Waiting to take off, Damian leaned over and asked, “You have access to a total of twelve private planes.  Why are we sitting in an, admittedly, very comfortable seat, in the first class section of a British Airways jet?”

Bruce thought for a second before saying softly, “Well, two of those twelve would not be safe to take on a trip like this.”  No matter how much more comfortable he might have felt using them, there was no way they could have taken either of the Bat-planes on a civilian business trip.  “I also had several hundred million credit card airline miles that were set to expire, and that would have been a waste.  We are basically getting a free, first class trip around the world.”

Damian shrugged, “I guess we should use it, if we have it.”

Bruce leaned in close, lips almost touching the boy’s ear, and asked, “How many weapons were you able to sneak past security?”

Damian looked around, taking in their surroundings, “Why?  Do you think we will need them?”

Bruce smirked, “No, just curious.  I thought you looked a bit relieved when we got past security.”

“Just one,” Damian whispered, “A carbon fiber knife in my knee brace.”

Bruce shook his head, “I should have known.  We’ve got several hours, if you want to get the sleep that you didn’t get last night.”

“You didn’t exactly get a full eight hours last night, either, Father.  If those dark circles under your eyes are any indication, I’d say you got about as much sleep as I did.”

The plane climbed smoothly to their cruising altitude as Bruce responded, “You’re probably right, but I’ve never been able to sleep on a plane.”

Damian unbuckled his seat belt and lifted the armrest out of the way, so he could lean against his father.  “Doesn’t mean you can’t try, Father,” he whispered, closing his eyes.

“Mr. Wayne?  Sir, we are getting ready to land.  Please return your seats to their upright position, sir.”

The feminine voice of the flight attendant gently woke the businessman, who was very confused as to his surroundings.  Their seats had been reclined as far as they would go, and a blanket had been placed over father and son.  Damian was curled up under Bruce’s protective arm, seemingly asleep.  _The last thing I remember was Damian leaning against me.  Huh, I guess I was more tired than I thought,_ Bruce thought with a smile.

“Excuse me?  Miss?  What, um…”

The flight attendant smiled at the confused look on Bruce’s face, “You both fell asleep soon after take-off.  You looked so comfortable, we didn’t want to wake you.  I hope you don’t mind that we reclined your seats and covered you up.”

Bruce gave a soft smile, “Not at all, thank you.  I just hope our snoring didn’t bother the other passengers.”

The girl smiled, “You didn’t snore that loud.”

“Thank you,” Bruce said as the service worker walked away.

Looking down at his son, Bruce couldn’t help but notice that Damian had snuggled into him the same way he had been found holding on to Dick.  Squeezing the boy tighter to his side, Bruce opened his mouth to whisper a wake up to his son.

Damian spoke first, “I heard her, Father.”  He groped behind him for the button to return his seat to an upright position.  Smiling up at Bruce, he said, “You look better, Father, but I thought you said you couldn’t sleep on a plane?”

Bruce smiled back and said, “I thought you said you didn’t cuddle.”

Damian blushed red, but said, “I may have said that I didn’t, but I didn’t say that I couldn’t.”

They were met at the gate by a driver holding a sign that read ‘Wayne’.  As they were getting into the car, which Bruce admitted he didn’t know had been arranged for them, he got a voicemail on his phone.  “Hmm, seems I missed a call,” Bruce said, holding the device to his ear.

He smiled as Alfred’s voice filtered through the speaker.  “I assume that you had no plans for dinner tonight, Master Bruce.  In fact, I know that you don’t, so I took the liberty of arranging them for you.  Your driver will drop you at your hotel.  Your clothing choices this morning were appropriate, but I assume that you are both quite rumpled following a trans-Atlantic flight.  You are to put on something similar and be ready to leave promptly at seven-thirty, when your driver will pick you and Master Damian up and take you to your dinner reservations.  You two are to be on your best behavior during dinner.  I thought a home-cooked meal would be nice on your first night out of town, and I will hear of it if your behavior is anything less than exemplary.  After all, Chester Wallace Pennyworth doesn’t invite just anyone to dine with him.  My brother will receive you and Master Damian at eight sharp.  Do try to enjoy yourselves, sir.”

Bruce’s face paled whiter than his dress shirt as he whispered, “Shit.”

“Father?  What is it?”

“Hold on.”  Bruce leaned forward and said, “Driver?”

“Yes, sir?”

“Have you been made aware of tonight’s plans?”

The driver smiled, “Yes, sir.  I’m to pick the both of you up no later than seven-thirty, and have you to your destination by eight sharp.”

Bruce looked worried, “Is there any chance at all that we will be late for this appointment?”

The driver shrugged, “There’s always a chance.  You can’t predict traffic, sir.  But, that late at night, and the relatively short distance involved, I think I can safely say you will be on time.”

Bruce thought for a second, “Change of plans.  You aren’t going to pick us up, you are going to wait for us.  We will check in, change clothes, and come right back out.  I would rather we be an hour early than one minute late tonight.  Can we do that?”

“Yes, sir.”

“What time is it,” Bruce asked curiously.

“Six o’clock, sir.”

Bruce nodded, “Okay, I want to be at our destination no later than seven-thirty.”

“Yes, sir.”

Bruce and Damian walked into the hotel, Bruce hurrying without looking like he was hurrying.  Damian, trying to look just as casual, was having a hard time keeping up without jogging.  Bruce was all business with the front desk clerk, and they were soon in the elevator, headed up to their suite.

“Are you going to tell me what’s going on now, Father?”

Bruce sighed, “We’ve been granted an audience.”

Damian’s eyes bulged, “What, with the Queen?”

“I wish it was only with the Queen.  You and I are having dinner with Lord Chester Pennyworth.”

Damian gasped, “Pennyworth?  As in…”

“As in Alfred’s older brother,” Bruce interrupted.  “He was titled when he retired, after forty years of service to the royal family.”

“I didn’t know Pennyworth _had_ a brother,” Damian whispered.

“Alfred doesn’t mention him often.  I haven’t heard about him in years.  Apparently, his past is just as…storied…as Alfred’s, if not more so.”

Damian smiled, “So, he’s more Pennyworth than Pennyworth?”

Once in their room, Bruce cornered Damian and said, “You will be on your best behavior tonight.  Better than your best, even.  You better bet Alfred will be calling the minute we leave his brother’s house.  He will be calling his brother, too.  Change your clothes, put on the nicest suit you brought.  We need to be ready to go as soon as possible.”

Bruce dragged his suitcase to one of the two bedrooms in their suite, while Damian headed to the other room. 

Bruce returned to the living area just a couple minutes later, and his eyes bulged.  “What are you doing, sitting there?”

Damian looked confused, “Waiting for you, Father.”

“Get up!  You’re going to get all wrinkled.”

Damian stood and mumbled, “We have to sit in the car on the way over there.”

Bruce looked Damian over and sighed, “I guess this is the best we can do.  I wish we had time to get your hair cut.”

“Pennyworth trimmed my hair a couple days ago,” Damian said as he turned and looked in the mirror that hung over the back of the couch.  He raked it back behind his ears, then let it fall back natural.  He shook his head and said, “It isn’t even long enough to pull back into a tail.”

Bruce sighed again as he brushed at the boy’s suit before herding him out of the room.  “I don’t see why you need to have it that long.  Doesn’t it itch, or get in the way?”

“It used to.  I guess I’m just used to it now.”  Damian smiled, “Besides, Robin likes it this long.”

Bruce rolled his eyes and said, “…And if Robin likes it, you’ll keep it until she says she doesn’t.  Your little form of rebellion?”

Damian sighed, “Yes, Father, but not against you.  Growing up, Talia never allowed me to have anything longer than a crew cut, and most of the time, she just shaved my head.  I didn’t know what color my hair was until I was six.”

Bruce looked at the boy strangely, “You had a full head of hair when you came to us.”

Damian nodded, “Yes.  I was doing more missions for the League then.  Talia thought I would blend in better out in the world if I wasn’t bald.”

“Well, she wasn’t wrong there.”

The driver was still waiting at the valet stand, and he whisked the Waynes across town to the home of Lord Pennyworth.  As they were disembarking, the driver asked, “Excuse me, sir, but what did you have to do to get a meeting with Lord Pennyworth?”

Bruce’s eyes widened, “Do you know Lord Pennyworth?”

“Oh, yes sir.  Everyone around here knows Lord Pennyworth.  He’s kind of a local legend.  It’s always been a bit of a mystery, how Lord Pennyworth could have made such a name for himself, when his brother went off to work for some Yank.  He could have been just as important as Lord Pennyworth.  So, how did you say you knew Lord Pennyworth?”

Damian had an ear to ear grin as he looked up at Bruce.  Bruce blushed slightly as he leaned forward.  “I don’t know how I got so lucky to get this invite, I’m just some Yank.”

The driver’s eyes bulged and his cheeks flushed in embarrassment as he handed a business card to Bruce.  “Oh…sorry.  Just call when you’re ready to be picked up.”

Bruce took the card and nodded as the car pulled away.  Damian laughed, until they turned to the house.  As they walked through the gate and up to the door, Damian asked, “Um…Father?”

Bruce looked down and asked, “Nervous, son?”

“A bit, but I had a question.”

“Well, what is it?”

Damian stopped and turned to the older man, “What do I call him?  He’s a Lord, I can’t just call him Pennyworth.  Do I have to bow, or something?”

_I’m glad he’s thinking of these things.  Alfred will be proud._   “You call him ‘sir’ until he tells you otherwise.  Also, are you familiar with the saying, ‘children are best seen and not heard’?”

Damian nodded, “It was one of Talia’s favorites.”

Bruce returned the nod, “Well, this is the culture that invented the saying.  Perhaps it’s best to stick to that, until we know what to expect tonight.  Don’t be rude, but don’t go out of your way to be noticed.”

“So, you want me to act more like Drake than Grayson.”

Bruce shook his head, “I want you to act like Damian, but…yes, put a little more of Tim’s influence in your behaviors tonight, instead of Dick’s.”

The door was answered shortly after the first knock.  A stately, heavily starched butler answered the door with a deep voice and an imperious look.  “Masters Wayne, good evening.  Please, follow me.”

They were led to a drawing room that reminded Bruce of a smaller version of the front sitting room at Stately Wayne Manor.  A fire crackled cheerily in the grate, and several chairs set around the room told Bruce that many of the furnishings Alfred had picked out at home may have had their roots further back than Bruce thought.  The butler waited at the door while Bruce and Damian entered the space before saying, “Lord Pennyworth will greet you presently.”

When the butler was gone, and far enough away, Damian let out the snort he had been holding in since entering the house.  Bruce glared and said softly, “What?”

“Your butler’s brother has a butler,” Damian said in the same low tone.

Bruce rolled his eyes and said, “Okay, those are the kinds of observations you need to keep to yourself tonight.”

“He’s allowed to speak in my home, Mr. Wayne.”

A new voice, infinitely familiar, but slightly heavier, caused Bruce and Damian to unconsciously straighten up.  Both turned to meet their host, and both had to bite their lips to not laugh.  The family resemblance was uncanny.  Lord Chester looked exactly like Alfred, except for the shaved head, silver goatee, and eyepatch.  The smile that rarely alighted on Alfred’s face looked far more natural on Chester’s.

Bruce cleared his throat and said nervously, “Good evening, Lord Pennyworth.  Thank you for this generous invitation.  I am…”

Chester interrupted with a smile, “You’re Bruce Wayne, of course.  Which means that this is Damian.”  Chester winked at the surprised looks on his guest’s faces.  “Did you think I would be unaware of who my dinner guests were tonight?  Did you also think that little Alfie hasn’t been sending me pictures of you, and your family, for your entire life, Mr. Wayne?”

Damian’s face lit up at the use of the brotherly nickname, but he held his tongue.

“I was unaware that the two of you were so close, Lord Pennyworth,” Bruce said, trying to recover from his initial shock.

“I’ve begged him to come home several times over the last forty-eight years, but Alfred has always said that his duty to you and your family takes precedence.”  Chester gave a wistful smile, “Of course, I’m hardly one to talk.  I’d still be working myself, if I hadn’t been forced into retirement.  Come, dinner is served.”

The elder Pennyworth led Bruce and Damian down a hall with a slight limp in his step.  They were seated around a weathered, worn circular dining table, and Bruce couldn’t help but notice the way Lord Chester grinned at the dining surface.

He saw Bruce finger the table as he sat down and said, “It was Mother’s.  Couldn’t bear to part with it.  This table saw every Pennyworth meal for generations.  It’s been in the family for one hundred fifty years.  Now, as our Alfie is one to worry unnecessarily, I have been given a list of items to check out.  It seems that you both arrived in one piece, and were able to get from the airport, to your hotel, to here.  You have both dressed appropriately and groomed for the occasion.  However, you must know something.  I am not the ‘stuffed shirt’ that Alfred has always been.  Please, relax.  You are here to rest and have a meal.  You aren’t at a state dinner, and I am not a member of the royal family.  So long as you are able to enjoy a meal with me, Alfred will get his good report.”

Bruce and Damian eyed each other, both greatly surprised at the informal attitude of their host.  Chester enjoyed the looks of confusion passing between father and son as their meal was served.

Conversation was light and amiable for the remainder of the meal, and Bruce and Damian were able to relax far more than they thought they would.

Chester turned out to be an amazing host.  Bruce wasn’t really surprised that ability ran in the family.  The meal reminded the Wayne’s of something that Alfred would make, and the stories Chester told of a young Alfred made this one of the best meals Bruce had ever enjoyed.

The table was cleared as Chester leaned back.  Addressing Damian, their host said, “I have been informed that you partake, Damian.  Would you have a cup of tea with me?”

Surprised, Damian said, “Yes, that would be nice.  Thank you.”

Turning again, Chester said, “I know you are a coffee man, Bruce.  Would you care for a cup?”

“Absolutely,” Bruce said, with a smile.

Their after-dinner drinks were served, and Lord Chester said, “Now, I have been instructed to inquire about your knee, Damian.  Little Alfie was worried that the flight might have taken its toll on you.”

Damian was a bit on guard as he said, “It’s feeling okay, sir.  I’m not having any pain.”

A mysterious smirk crossed their host’s face, “Motorcycle crash, right?”

Damian nodded.

Chester winked with a smile.  It was actually hard to tell if it was a wink or a blink, with the eyepatch blocking his other eye.  “You sure it wasn’t a building explosion?”

Damian paled as Bruce leaned forward, a serious look on his face.  “Why would my son have been in an exploding building?”

Chester turned to Bruce and said evenly, “Probably the same reason you spend most of your nights away from home.”  Chester leaned forward and asked quietly, “What’s it feel like, to fly around town the way you do?”

“I’m not sure I know what you’re talking about,” Bruce said coldly.

“I _know_ , Bruce,” Chester said, dropping all pretense.

Bruce nodded after a silent minute and said, “You must really miss your brother, because telling me something like that is a sure way to get him back here permanently.  He knows better than to talk about things like that.”

Chester leaned back, “I figured it out, actually.  Wasn’t that hard to figure out.  It’s amazing that no one in Gotham City is closer to the truth.  Alfie denied it for the longest time.  Finally, he needed someone to talk to.  Your nightly excursions are so terribly hard on him.  Bruce, we are just about as close as family, even though this is the first time we are meeting.  Your secret is safe with me.  I have my share of stories, but I bet that none of them are as interesting as yours.”

Damian was looking back and forth between Bruce and Chester, confused about what this revelation meant for them.  “What now, Father?”

Bruce stared intensely into Chester’s eyes, trying to judge the man’s intents.  _Why would he think this would be an acceptable form of after-dinner conversation?_

Chester spoke again after another minute of silence.  “If the Queen trusts me with not only her secrets, but the care of her family, don’t you think I can be trusted with your secret?”

“I don’t give a damn about the Queen’s secrets, Lord Pennyworth,” Bruce almost whispered, his tone sharp and deadly, “If my secret ever gets out, it will mean my life, and the lives of my sons.  It will also mean your brother’s life, with as complicit as he’s been in…everything.  I don’t think you want anything happening to him.”

Chester gave a small smirk and said, “You don’t need to threaten me, Bruce.  I think I’ve already proven that no one will hear it from me.”

“How,” Bruce asked curiously.

Chester’s smile grew, “How, you ask?  Simple.  I’ve known for twenty years, and you’ve yet to be unmasked, or revealed, or whatever you call it.”

Bruce was silent for another minute before saying, “Very well.  I’m not happy about this, and you can tell Alfred that when you talk to him, but what’s done is done.  Finish your tea, Damian.  I think it’s time we headed back to the hotel.”

Chester looked downcast as he said, “It will take the driver some time to get here.  We had such a nice dinner, perhaps we can enjoy dessert in the same manner?  I do hate to have guests leave in such a…cantankerous mood.”

Damian hid his grin behind his tea cup at the description of his father as cantankerous.  Bruce’s eyes narrowed, but he sighed, thinking about the friendly camaraderie over dinner.  “I suppose it’s better than waiting on the curb for the car.”

“Splendid.  Cake will be served in the sitting room.  Follow me, please.”

The mood thawed slightly over dessert, and they were picked up an hour later and returned to the hotel.  Bruce received a penitent call from Alfred, during which Bruce made very clear how close Alfred came to losing his job tonight.  Alfred’s only consolation was that Bruce would be gone for another three weeks, and Alfred was sure everything would blow over by the time he returned home.

Nine o’clock the following morning found Bruce and Damian being shown into the office of Jeremy Stewart, the manager of Wayne Enterprises England Division.  To his credit, the man only looked slightly surprised at the child following at Bruce’s heels.

Bruce and Jeremy shook hands, and the director said, “Good morning, Mr. Wayne.  Welcome to the British R&D division.  I was unaware you would be bringing guests, sir.  Who do we have here, Mr. Wayne?”

Bruce smirked and said, “Mr. Wayne.”

Before Jeremy could give Bruce the confused look that was starting to form on his face, Bruce continued, “This is my son, Damian.  It’s about time that he started learning about the company he’s going to inherit someday.”

“Well, Mr. Wayne and Mr. Wayne,” Jeremy said with a smile.

Damian shook the offered hand and said, “Call me Damian, it will just make things easier.”

Jeremy nodded, “Very well.  Are you enjoying your trip so far?”

Damian shrugged, “It just began yesterday, so I guess?”

Jeremy looked at Bruce and said, “I was under the impression that this was a grand tour of your foreign divisions, Mr. Wayne?”

Bruce gave a soft smile.  “It is.  You have the privilege of being the first stop.  So, tell me, Jeremy, what is going on in this office lately?”

Jeremy smiled and said, “I’d rather show you, Mr. Wayne…Mr. _Waynes_.”

Jeremy led Bruce and Damian out to a bustling work floor.  The noise level was higher than Damian was expecting for a research and development department.  They were given lab coats and goggles before entering the production floor.

Jeremy was leading father and son towards a walled-off section of the floor when Damian tapped Bruce on the arm.  “I thought you said this was an R&D facility.  They don’t look like they’re researching.”

Bruce looked over at Jeremy, who smiled and said, “We’re attached to the R&D department, but we’re more of a final stop.  Projects are developed elsewhere, and sent here for initial production.”

Damian thought for a second, then shrugged and asked, “What are you producing now?”

They stopped outside of the walled off area and looked through a window at workers manning machinery in a clean room.  “Hybrid drives, Mr…Damian.”

Damian cocked his head, “Hybrid?  Like a Prius?”

Bruce and Jeremy smiled at each other.  Bruce patted Damian’s shoulder, “We’re not in automotive manufacturing, Damian.”

“Why not, Father,” the boy asked innocently, “We make aircraft components.  They can’t be too different from automotive components.”

Bruce looked like he had never considered that possibility before as Jeremy spoke again.  “These are laptop components, Damian.  A hybrid drive is like two hard drives in one.  Are you familiar with the internal workings of a computer?”  Damian nodded, “These have a standard disc-based hard drive and a solid state drive, like a flash drive, working together to provide faster operation.  Hybrid drives are becoming pretty standard, but these ones we are making are wired and programmed in a way I had never seen before.  They have an operating rate almost twice as fast as other hybrid drives.  They are also more energy efficient, and need to be defragged half as often as standard drives.  I don’t know which genius over in R&D thought this up, Mr. Wayne, but they should be given a raise.”

“I’ll consider it,” Bruce said with a smirk.

They were walking to talk with the shop foreman when Damian tapped Bruce’s arm again and asked, “Those are for Drake’s laptop project, aren’t they?”

Bruce smiled and replied, “Not the idiot you keep saying he is, huh?”

“They don’t know it was him?”

“Why would they?  They only need to know the design specs to make the drives.”

Damian looked surprised, “Drake isn’t going to take credit for his part in this?  Those laptops have increased company profits several times over.”

Bruce shook his head, “Tim’s not in it for the accolades, he just wanted a cool laptop.  If what he made can make the company some money and help a few people out, then that’s just the cherry on top.”

Damian was deep in thought as Bruce and Jeremy spoke to the shop foreman.  Damian wandered over and watched through another window, where the hard drives were being packaged into boxes.  He watched the two employees working diligently at their task, until Jeremy and Bruce came up and stood next to him.

“See anything you like,” Jeremy asked.

Damian smiled and said, “Just admiring your automation.”

“No automation on the packing line, boyo.  We take pride in what we make here.  We want to make sure they leave the factory in the best condition possible, so all packaging is done by hand.”

Bruce couldn’t help notice Damian stiffen at Jeremy’s words.  They were both accomplished enough actors that Jeremy didn’t notice.  Bruce made a point in his mind to ask his son later what was going on.

“Are they able to keep up with the production rate of the machines making the drives?

Bruce was proud of Damian asking the question.  To be honest, he was curious about the answer himself.

“We run two shifts on the packing line, with four workers per shift.  Right now, we only have two.  One is out on maternity leave, and it is about break time, so that must be where the other worker is.  Don’t worry, my workers can keep up just fine.”

They worked their way back to Jeremy’s office after the tour.  Jeremy looked father and son over and spoke candidly for the first time today.  “Mr. Wayne, I have to ask.  What prompted this visit?  We’ve been running smoothly lately.  I don’t see how we merited a visit from the top brass.”

Bruce smiled, “You _have_ been running smoothly lately, which I appreciate.  You aren’t in trouble, Jeremy.  What I really wanted to do was check in and see if there is anything more the company can do for this facility.  After the Brexit hubbub, I wanted to make sure everything was still running smoothly.”

Jeremy smiled, “Hasn’t affected us in the least, Mr. Wayne.  It’s nice to know that the higher-ups are looking out for us, though.”

Bruce nodded and said, “To be honest, I already knew that there were no problems with this facility.  I needed a good example of a smooth-running facility to hold up to Damian here for how I want my foreign holdings to be run.  It’s really a testament to how your facility works that we ended up here.”

Jeremy reached across the desk and shook Bruce’s hand.  “Thank you, Mr. Wayne.  I’ll let my people know to keep up the good work.”

“What do you think?” Bruce asked Damian once they were back in their taxi, heading back to the hotel.

Damian shrugged, “What am I supposed to think?”

Bruce rolled his eyes, “Damian, I just want to know your impressions of the facility.”

“They…seem to be doing their jobs.  Is this a newer facility?”

Bruce shook his head, “They were a contractor for ten years before we bought them outright five years ago.”

“So, what does my opinion matter, then?  It’s not like you’re going to fire everyone and sell the building based on whether I like them or not.”

“What’s wrong, son,” Bruce sighed.

Damian eyed the driver and said quietly, “Later.”

Bruce nodded, remembering his son flinching while on the tour.  “Okay, well, how about overall thoughts?”

“It was very quiet for a production facility,” Damian said, hoping to get both of their minds off of what they were both thinking, “Everything ran smoothly, indicating adequate management.  How much advance notice did they have of your visit?”

“A couple weeks.”

Damian nodded, “So, more than long enough to get things cleaned up.”

Bruce shrugged, “Yes, I suppose so, but that is why I chose this facility for your visit.  Even if there was something to clean up, they did it to the point where nothing out of the ordinary was going on.”

“Yes, Father.  As I said, they were running smoothly.”

The taxi was quiet until a block from the hotel, when Damian spoke up softly.  “Father, you said you chose this facility to show me.  How much of this trip is an actual business trip, and how much of it is something to take my mind off of recent events?”

Bruce’s cheeks grew a tinge of red as he said, “About fifty-fifty.  Actually, if you want to know the truth, it is even at a third each.”

Damian looked up critically, “…Implying that there is a third reason for the trip?”

Bruce smiled, “Yes.  The third part is…I wanted to spend time with you.  I wanted to get to know you better.  You have to admit, it’s about time.”

Damian regarded Bruce for close to a minute before saying softly, “I thought we were doing pretty well.  I guess we can always do better, though.  I should probably warn you, though, Father.  I’m not Grayson.  I don’t think I can even approach his level of openness.”

Bruce smiled brightly, “Then it’s a good thing we already have one of those.  I’m not expecting you to be him.  I’m expecting you to be you, and me to be me.  We are too much alike to be almost strangers.”

Damian looked into Bruce’s eyes and nodded once, a small smile playing around the boy’s lips.

Back in their hotel suite, Bruce walked into Damian’s room while the boy was changing out of his suit.  “Okay, spill.”

Damian looked confused, “Father?”

“What did Jeremy say that caused you to flinch like that?”

Damian looked down and said softly, “Oh, that.”  Glancing up without lifting his head, the boy said, “He called me ‘boyo’.”

Bruce looked confused, and asked, “…And?”

Damian sighed, “Angus used to call all of us ‘boyo’.”

Bruce thought critically, but the name was not ringing a bell.  “Who is Angus?”

Damian looked around the room before whispering, “Angus was the Vocational Program leader at the Janus School.”

Bruce winced as Damian hung his head, “I wasn’t expecting to hear that.  It just…it took me back to a place where I, frankly, don’t want to go again.”

Bruce gathered his son into his arms and hugged tightly, “I’m so sorry, son.  I’m sorry I sent you there.  I’m sorry I didn’t come for you sooner.  I’m sorry I wasn’t there when you needed me.  I’m sorry I forced you to be the strong one, to pull yourself out of your pain, to pull me out of mine.”

“You’re worth it, Father,” Damian said hoarsely.

“I’m not worth the obvious PTSD I’ve inflicted on you.”

Damian looked up and said, “Then, you’ll have to help me.  I don’t want to feel this way, but these things are going to keep coming up.  I’m done running and hiding, but I don’t want to keep having to watch out for these situations.  I don’t know what to do.”

Bruce nodded and led the boy to the couch.  They sat, and Bruce said, “I think I know a way to help you, but you will have to trust me.  It’s going to hurt, too.  Both you and me.”

“Lobotomy,” Damian scoffed.

“Honesty,” Bruce countered.  “Damian, son, I want you to tell me everything that happened, from the moment I gave you and Tim the assignment, to Christmas Eve, when you saved me from myself.”

Damian’s eyes widened and he began shaking at the prospect of recounting every horrifying detail.  “It’s a long story, Father,” the scared boy whispered.

“For you, son, I have nothing but time.”

_The Next Day…_

Damian spoke non-stop for the better part of ten hours after Bruce’s request.  He recounted everything he and Tim had done to survive on the streets, their desperation to be noticed by the school recruiter, everything they had to do for the school, how hard they tried to find out anything about the school, and how their time ran out and everything went south.  He described his anguish at possibly losing Tim, his hope of being found, only to have that hope dashed when he finally met Batman again, his confusion at being left at the school, and his fear that he would never leave there.  He described his PTSD in exacting detail, and how, at times, he truly felt he had nothing left to live for.  He described his nerves, and his determination, at ending their separation, and finally, the joy he felt when he reached out to Bruce, and Bruce reached back.

In the end, as the sun was rising on a new day, Damian had collapsed, exhausted and emotionally drained, and slept, wrapped in Bruce’s tight grasp.  Bruce had just enough energy left to carry the boy to his bedroom, lay them both under the covers, and pass out.

Hours later, as the clock struck one, Damian cracked an eye open.  Bruce’s arms were constricting the boy’s ability to breath, but he wouldn’t even consider moving at this point.  Damian hadn’t had a nightmare in the preceding sleep, and he saw it as a small miracle.

“Thank you for telling me that, son,” Bruce rumbled from behind Damian’s back.

_How did he know that I was awake?_   “Thank you for listening…Dad,” Damian whispered.

Bruce smiled at the name and said, “I’m so sorry I put you through all of that.  You were right to be scared of me.  That was the act of a monster.”

“Maybe,” Damian said softly, feeling the wince Bruce gave, “But, from one monster to another, you didn’t have any other choice, and I still would have gone, even if I knew how the mission would turn out.”

Bruce gasped, “Why, son?  Why would you put yourself through that?”

Damian took a minute, crafting his answer, “Because no one else could do it.  I wanted to do it, for you.  I…I don’t think I’ve ever said this before, but you are more important to me than anything that happens to me.  You took a chance on me.  You didn’t have to believe Talia; that I’m yours, but you did.  I didn’t appreciate the DNA testing, but I’m glad that it came out a match.  I could have gone back to the League, and I never would have known…this.  This one moment, of us here, together.  This is worth any pain or suffering, anything that might happen to me.  It’s all worth it, because I got to find out what this was like.”

Bruce couldn’t make a reply.  There was nothing he could say that would match the depth of everything he had heard from his youngest in the last half day.  Instead, he pulled Damian a little closer, rested the boy’s cheek on his own, and softly said, “Son.”

Damian understood.  He didn’t mind the one-word response to his speech.  In fact, he felt that anything more than that reply would cheapen the moment.  Bruce’s cheek was scratchy against his smooth one, but right now, it was the best pillow he could ever want.

As with all good things, the moment ended.  Almost two hours later, as father and son were dozing again, a phone rang in the next room.  Damian grumbled, “Should we just ignore it?”

Bruce sighed and said, “We should, but that’s Dick’s ringtone.  He’ll just call again, and when I ignore it again, he’ll call you.”

A second phone started ringing in the next room, bringing a smile to Damian’s face.  “No, he won’t, but apparently Pennyworth will.”

Reluctantly, both got up.  Damian’s legs were a little shaky as he walked from the bedroom in front of his father.  Bruce answered his phone as Dick called back.  “Good morning, chum.”

There was silence for a minute before Dick said, “You’re kidding, right?  Are you just getting up?  It’s what, like three in the afternoon there, right?  Didn’t you have appointments today?”

Bruce smiled as he looked at a digital clock reading 2:41pm.  “It was a late night last night.  Yes, we basically wasted today, but it was worth it.”

“What about your schedule?”

“You know I planned extra days into the schedule for time to relax and bond.”  Bruce looked over at Damian, who was on the phone with Alfred.  He couldn’t help but grin as a small giggle escaped the boy.

“So, how is the whole bonding thing going,” Dick asked nervously.

Bruce gave a contented sigh, “Better than I could have possibly hoped.  I swear, Dick, I’m hating myself for not being able to do this sooner.”

Bruce could hear the smile in Dick’s voice.  “What brought such a quick change?  Is England that magical for you two?”

“There was an incident on the tour yesterday,” Dick gasped as Bruce continued, “A reminder of a terrible memory led to the longest uninterrupted speech I’ve ever heard.”

Bruce could imagine Dick’s jaw dropping.  “Just how long are we talking here?  I know we’ve had some marathon meetings at work.  Are you talking long for Damian, or long for a normal person?”

“I’m talking long for a narcissist reading their autobiography to a captive audience.”

Dick was astonished at the description.  “What did he talk about?”

“His school activities; all of them, from October to Christmas.  Every detail he could remember.  He spoke for the better part of ten hours, Dick.  I had no idea they went through so much.  Do me a favor, Dick.  Hug Tim for me.  Tell him exactly why, too.”

Dick was disbelieving as he said, “I will.  How is he doing?”

Bruce looked back at the boy, still talking to the butler, “Better.  I’ve never seen him looking so content.  He let go of something big last night.  Something that had been weighing him down for the better part of a year.”

The line was quiet for half a minute before Dick said, “Remember, Bruce, you still have almost three weeks together.  Why don’t you try spreading some of this bonding out a little?”

_Meanwhile…_

“Good morning, Pennyworth.”

Damian could make out a hint of a stunned silence before Alfred said, “Good afternoon, you mean?”

Damian looked at a clock and winced, “Well, it’s morning where you are, so I believe the greeting is appropriate.”

“I believe so, Master Damian.  I believe today’s schedule included sightseeing around London.  How do you like my hometown, dear boy?”

“This isn’t the first time I’ve been to London, Pennyworth.  Today’s plans got changed in favor of getting rid of…jetlag.”

There was a smile in Alfred’s voice as he said, “I see.  Well, I guess sleeping through a trans-Atlantic flight can be exhausting.”  Damian giggled at the remark, surprising Alfred.  “You seem to be in quite the good mood today, young sir.  Is there anything going on I should know about?”

Damian smiled, sneaking a peek at Bruce.  “I feel good today, Pennyworth.  Better than I’ve felt in a long time.”  _Better than I’ve ever felt, actually,_ Damian thought.

He could hear Alfred’s joy over the line.  “Your father must be pleased to see that.”

“He better be; he’s the one who got me feeling this way.  Did you know that he loves me?”

Alfred couldn’t stop his snort of laughter, “I’ve heard rumors to that effect.”

“Did you know that I love him?”

_What went on between them, for this child to be so open like this?_   “I had my suspicions, Master Damian.  The real question is, does he know that?”

Damian looked back at Bruce and said, “I think so.  I’ll have to make sure later.”

“Speaking of your father, I have been unable to contact him.”

Damian nodded, “He’s talking to Grayson right now.  Speaking of brothers, why did you never mention having one before?”

Alfred sounded almost embarrassed when he said, “Well, I am the black sheep of the family.  What did you think of Lord Chester?”

Damian almost smiled, “There is definitely a family resemblance.  He was a very good host, but it only showed us how used to our Pennyworth we are, and how much we missed you.”

_My, he is in a good mood today._ “Thank you, young sir.  You are missed here, as well.  Enjoy the rest of your time in London.”

“Should I have Father call you,” Damian asked.

“It isn’t necessary,” Alfred said with a smile.  “If he has nothing better to do, I will be glad to speak with him, but hearing from you has assured me that everything is satisfactory.  Good day, young sir.”

Damian ended his call, and returned to his room to shower and change.  He returned to the living room to find Bruce staring out at the afternoon traffic from the window.  Damian silently joined his elder at the window and watched the cars passing by.  Gently, an arm snaked around his shoulder and pulled him into a warm side.  No words passed between them for several minutes, until a taxi was rear-ended by a Jaguar on the street below.  They both winced at the sound of bending metal and breaking glass as the drivers got out and started arguing.

Bruce was surprised when he heard Damian start a commentary, illuminating the argument from the street below.  In an impersonated, upper crust British accent, the boy said, “How dare you stop your peasant wagon in front of my upper crust mobile?”

A second voice from the boy, impersonating a Cockney accent, meant to be the driver of the taxi, replied, “’Scuse me, Guvnor, but you did hit me.”

“That doesn’t mean anything.  You’re poor, so it’s always your fault.”

“Yes, sir, I’m poor, but my passenger is rich.”

“Then how dare you stand here and argue with me, when you should be checking on the condition of your passenger.  Wait, only check on him if you’re sure he’s rich.”

Bruce chuckled and said, “You’re very good at mimicry.  How long did it take to learn that?”

Damian sighed, “It took as long as Talia allowed me to learn it, which is to say, not long enough.  I was never allowed long enough to truly learn something.  No matter how fast I got something, it was never fast enough for her.  She went through quite a few canes in my education.  Talia believed that I couldn’t learn something properly without some bit of pain.”

The hand tightened slightly on his shoulder.  “I wish there was something I could do to help you,” Bruce said quietly.

“You already did.”

Bruce turned to face Damian fully and pulled his son into a tight, if brief, hug.  When they separated, Damian asked, “Is this what it was like when Grayson was young?  This…feeling?”

“What feeling,” Bruce asked.

Damian thought for a second, trying to put his thoughts into words.  “Like…like everything is going to be okay?”

Bruce grinned, “I hope that’s how he felt.  That’s what I tried for.”

“I think it worked, Father.”

“Good, but remember, that’s what I want for you, too.  How about we go get something to eat, and do a bit of that sightseeing I told Alfred I was planning for today?  You brought your tux, right?”

Damian nodded, “You told me to bring it.”

“Good.  I thought we could take in a show tonight.  There is a new production of _Les Miserables_ in the West End that is getting good reviews.”

Damian glanced up with a smirk, “A middle-aged, single man taking a young boy to see musical theater?  That sounds like a cry for help to me.”

Bruce glared and rolled his eyes, “How does a father taking his son for a nice evening out sound?”

Damian gave a true smile and said, “That sounds like something that should happen more often.”

“Good.  Let’s go.”

_The Next Day…_

“Is there any special reason we have to be up this early, Father,” Damian asked as he rubbed his eyes in the back of their chauffeured car.

“We’re heading north.  There is a distribution facility we’re touring, then we’re getting a special tour in Scotland.”

Damian didn’t respond, and slowly, Bruce’s eyes widened.  _Scotland; Angus.  Great.  I really am a poor excuse for a father, aren’t I?_

Bruce spoke softly, “Damian, I’m sorry.  I didn’t know, when the plans were being arranged.  This was set up weeks ago.”

Damian nodded, “It’s okay, Father.  I can handle it.  It’s better now, really.  Why Scotland, though?”

Bruce eyed the boy as he said, “Jean has family there.  She’s always talking about how nice it is there, and she almost fell over when I told her that I had never been there.  She had her uncle plan the tour we are going on today.  Apparently, it takes something special to get into St. Andrews without a membership.”

Damian looked confused, which amused Bruce.  “Father, I’ve never been to a church before.  Why do you need a membership to attend?  We aren’t Catholic, is that why it’s so hard to get in?”

Bruce tried his hardest not to laugh, and only just succeeded.  “Damian, St. Andrews is a golf course.  Historically, it is the birthplace of the game.  You do need to be a member to get on the course.  Apparently, Jean’s uncle is the head greens keeper, a position of some prestige in Scotland.”

Damian nodded and said, “And Jean is important to you, so it is important for us to make a good impression on her family.”

Bruce looked over, shocked, “That was very considerate of you, Damian.”

“I _am_ capable of manners, Father,” Damian said indignantly, “I don’t understand why everyone is surprised when I display them.”

Bruce shook his head, “First impressions, Damian.  They’re hard to shake.”

“It’s been three years, Father.  I’ve dropped all of my first impressions of all of you.  They work both ways, you know.  Isn’t it only fair that you do the same?”

Bruce took a deep breath, proud of his son, “You’re absolutely right.  You’ve grown, we should, too.”

Bruce and Damian toured an utterly uninteresting distribution facility, which was really nothing more than a large warehouse with a nice loading dock.  There was really nothing special to see, and Bruce wondered why he chose to include it on their schedule.

Crossing into Scotland, Damian yawned and said, “I guess not all of your holdings are exciting, Father.”

Bruce shrugged, “It’s a new facility.  At least we know it exists now.  That’s about all I can say about it.”

Damian was nervous about their next destination, and said, “So…golf?”

“Are you familiar with the game, Damian?”

Damian shrugged, “Grayson took me once.  It didn’t seem like such a big deal, to have private clubs.”

Bruce did a double take, “Dick plays golf?  I didn’t know that.”

“He took me once when you were gone.  It was okay, but I can’t see traveling across the world to play.”

They were escorted onto the exclusive course and given a tour of the clubhouse by Jean’s uncle.  He was, unfortunately, named Angus, but Damian seemed to be able to handle the situation.

When the tour had been completed, they were offered a round of golf.  Bruce turned to Damian and asked, “What do you think?  Want to give it a try?”

Damian was staring out of a large window when he said quietly, “I guess so, but where’s the course?”

“You’re looking at it, Damian,” Bruce said, confusion tingeing his voice.

“I don’t see a windmill, Father.  Grayson said these places always have windmills.”

A slow smile crossed Bruce’s face as he came closer to his son.  He asked, “This place Dick took you to, was it in the middle of the city?”

“Yes.”

“Did it have a pizza parlor and an arcade attached to it?”

“Yeah,” Damian said, looking up at the man.

Bruce tossed his head back and laughed deeply.

“Father?”

Bruce gripped his son’s shoulder and said, “Dick took you miniature golfing.”

Damian sounded confused, “What’s the difference?”

“Size, mostly.  There, you are trying to get the ball in a hole twenty feet or so away.  Here, you are trying to do the same thing, but the hole is a couple hundred yards away.”

Damian’s eyes widened, “That is going to take a while, won’t it, Father?”

Bruce nodded, “Lucius plays golf.  He says it takes him a few hours each round.  He always says that golf is a nice walk through the countryside, interrupted by a field sobriety test.  Tell you what, I’ve only golfed once, many years ago, and you’ve only miniature golfed.  Why don’t he get the golf pro to give us some lessons on the driving range?”

Damian nodded, “That is acceptable.  How was it the one time you played?”

Bruce smirked at the youth, “Disastrous.  I’m pretty sure I lost friends that day.  We went as part of a business merger.  To this day, I think the only reason they signed the deal was because they felt sorry for me and the way I played golf.”

Bruce paid for lessons from the St. Andrews golf pro, and it quickly became obvious that he had wasted his money.  Neither of them could quite get the mechanics of the swing down.  Bruce threw three drivers down range when he let go of the clubs accidentally.  Damian couldn’t keep a club head straight to save his life, and every ball he hit was either a slice or a hook.

The lessons ended when, in what the instructor called the worst shot he had ever seen, Damian hit a ball that went perfectly straight…in the direction he was facing.  Instead of the ball heading down range, to join Bruce’s ever-expanding collection of thrown clubs, the ball popped straight right, hitting the pro in the face and breaking his nose.  Bruce arranged for medical care for the man before he and Damian beat a hasty retreat.

In the taxi, returning to the hotel, Bruce couldn’t help noticing that Damian was only staring at his lap.  He leaned over and said, “Son, it’s not your fault.  We just aren’t cut out to play golf.”

“This may be the first time I have ever done something where I failed so completely,” Damian said.  “I’m not used to being unable to do something.  I don’t like this feeling, Father.”

Bruce patted Damian’s knee, feeling the brace under the pant leg, “Your mother trained you to be a perfectionist, but not even she would be foolish enough to try to teach you golf.  Not even professionals get it right.  You have nothing to feel bad about.”

“I broke that guy’s nose, Father.”

The driver did his best to contain his laugh.  Bruce said, “Yes, you did, but at least it was an accident.  It’s not like you punched the guy, you just hit a bad shot.”

“I hit nothing _but_ bad shots,” Damian grumbled.

“At least you’re consistent,” Bruce said with a smile.  “At least you held on to your clubs.  I had to pay a thousand dollars for the clubs I threw halfway down the driving range.”

Damian chuckled lightly, “You did get some good distance from your throws.  They went farther than most of the balls you hit.  Father, were we asked to leave the country?”

“Not yet, but it’s probably safest if we don’t go back to Scotland for a while, just so we don’t cause an international incident.”

Damian’s phone buzzed in his pocket, and he read the text message from Dick. ‘ _Did you two sleep all day today, too?’_

Damian smirked and typed back, ‘ _We played golf.  There were no survivors.’_

_The Next Day…_

“Damian, I love you, but it’s midnight.  If your call wakes Dad up, he’ll be pissed.”

Damian winced at the thought, “Sorry, Robin.  I’m used to only being four hours ahead of you.  Sorry I woke you up.”

The girl’s voice started to sound more awake as she said, “It’s okay, I haven’t heard from you in days.  Wait, what do you mean, only four hours ahead?”

“Remember, I told you I was going on a business trip with Father?  I’m in England.”

“Oh!  Yeah, I remember you telling me about that.  Did you just get there?”

Damian shook his head, even though it couldn’t be seen by the person he was talking to, “No, we’re getting ready to leave.  Our plane leaves in an hour.  It was nice here, though.”

“Are you going home now?”

“Not for a couple weeks.  We just started; this was our first stop.  We’re headed for Morocco next.  I just had a quick question for you before we have to board the plane.”

“What’s that,” Robin asked with a yawn.

“Necklace or bracelet?”

“What?”

Damian smiled, “Our meeting isn’t for a couple days, and there is this amazing market in the city that I’m going to drag Father to.  I just wanted to know which you would like better, a necklace or a bracelet?”

“Damian, you are going to spoil me.”

“I just don’t want you to forget me,” the boy said in a quiet voice.

Robin scoffed, “No chance of that happening, Mister.  I wear your ring every day.  It only comes off when I shower.  You made a promise, and I’m going to hold you to it.”

Damian smiled, “Gladly, my lady.  What did your parents say about the ring?”

“You didn’t hear,” Robin asked, shocked.  “My dad called and had a long talk with your dad.  It’s taken him a long while, but he is finally starting to come around that we’re serious about each other.  I had to do a lot of convincing that we had only kissed, but I think it’s getting better now.”

“So, he’s okay with us now?”

Damian could hear the shrug over the phone, “I don’t know about okay, but he was a lot happier when I told him the timeline you told me.  Listen, Damian, I’m really tired.  Can we do this some other time?”

“Sure,” Damian said with a smile, “but first, answer my question.”

Robin sighed, “Surprise me.”

“Say that and you’re likely to get both,” Damian said with a smirk.

Robin sighed heavily, but Damian could tell that it was in a joking manner, “If I have to.  Maybe you _should_ get both, then save one for Christmas.”

“If I do that, then there will be no surprise for you,” Damian said.

“I’ll fake it,” Robin deadpanned.

“I love you,” Damian said softly before the call disconnected.

Staring out of the window of the first class lounge at the tarmac of Heathrow Airport, he didn’t notice Bruce standing beside him until the man spoke.

“Well, did she choose a necklace or a bracelet?”

Damian started in surprise.  “Was I that loud, Father?”

“To be honest, yes.  And yes, Mike and I talked, and yes, I’m still more okay with it that he seems to be, but I think he’s coming around.  I take it she liked the ring, then?”

Damian looked wistful and said, “Yes.  I think, if I had actually asked, she would have said yes.”

“But you didn’t ask,” Bruce asked nervously.  He could tell that Damian wasn’t talking about liking the ring, but what a gift like that could have the potential of meaning.

“No, but I asked if it would be okay to ask in the future.”

“That may be the only thing that kept Mike from freaking out.”

Damian sighed, “I guess it doesn’t matter, with as little as we can see each other now.”

Bruce threw an arm around Damian as they walked to their seats on the plane.  “You two have something special.  Frankly, I’m a little jealous.  I’ve failed for years.  You go out and get it right on the first time.”

Damian blushed and said, “Talia did teach me to accept nothing less than perfection.  I found it.”

The plane ascended into the late morning air smoothly.  Neither man nor boy were tired, and both soon took to reading.  Bruce reviewed notes for the upcoming negotiation, while Damian made a random selection in his Kindle and started reading.

Two hours into the flight, Bruce put down his stack of notes and just watched his son.  Damian’s eyes never left the device.  His only movement was to press the button to advance the page every so often.  The boy only stopped reading when the flight attendant brought their in-flight meals.

As they ate, Bruce gestured to the thin device with his fork.  “What’s that?”

Damian swallowed a bite before saying, “A Kindle.  It’s a digital book reader.”

“I know what they are.  I didn’t know you had one.”

Damian nodded, “It was a gift from Drake, before we left.”

“That was nice of him.”

Damian swallowed another bite and said, “The device means nothing.”

Bruce was about to scold Damian for the remark when the boy continued, “What’s on it means everything.  That’s the real gift.”

Bruce looked confused, “Digital books?”

“Yes, and no.  It’s the selection of books, Father.” Damian leaned closed and spoke softly.  “Remember when I was telling you about…school?  Remember I said that Drake and I went to the library to talk one night?  Well, while we were there, I was…distracted…by some of the books there.  I had never seen most of them before.  He told me to make a list of the ones that sounded interesting, or that I thought I might like to read.  I didn’t take him seriously at first, that wasn’t what we were there for, but I made a list anyway.  It was still in my pocket when you…brought me home.  He found it, and thought I should have a chance to read them.”

Bruce didn’t know anything about a list.  The more he found out about his son’s time at Two Face’s school, the more amazed he was.  “Tim has a knack for doing things like that.”

“I, uh, I was…surprised…by the gesture.  Don’t worry, I made sure I was suitably appreciative towards him.”

Their meals finished and cleared away, Bruce asked, “So, what are you reading?  What caught your attention so much that you wrote it down?”

Damian looked down and said softly, “It’s…juvenile, Father.  I probably shouldn’t even be reading it.  It’s a children’s book.”

Bruce looked at Damian strangely, “Why would you think there’s something wrong with that?  You never got to be a child.  I don’t mind if you explore a few things that are typically under your age range, and even children’s books can be useful, informative, and entertaining.  Come on, what is it?”

Damian sighed, “It’s called The Tower Treasure.  It’s about…”

Damian trailed off as Bruce’s face lit up, recognizing the title.  “The Hardy Boys?  Are you kidding me?  I used to love those books when I was a kid.”

“Yes, Father.  You read them as a child.  They’re children’s books.”

“That doesn’t mean they aren’t good stories.  You seemed awfully caught up in the story before lunch.  When we get home, ask Alfred if we still have my old copies of the books.  It might be interesting to go through them again.”

Damian looked surprised, “You don’t mind that I’m reading children’s books?”

“I don’t mind that you’re reading something that you enjoy.  I could care less who it was written for.”

The pilot came over the loudspeaker and informed the passengers that they were in a holding pattern over the airport, and would land as soon as possible.  Looking to waste some time, Bruce turned to Damian with a smile and said, “So, you never told me why you were so excited to come to Morocco.”

“No, I didn’t,” Damian said shortly, looking out of his window.

Sounding a little hurt, Bruce said, “But it was okay to tell Dick?”

Catching the tone, Damian turned and said softly, “It wasn’t the person, it was the location.  It’s a very…personal…story, for a place this public.  I’m surprised Grayson didn’t tell you.”

“He said it was your story, and he couldn’t do it justice.”

Damian looked at Bruce a little sadly and said, “Normally, hearing something like that would send you straight to the person, to demand clarification.  Is it because it’s me, that you weren’t interested until now?  You could have asked when you first told me about the trip.  Why wait until we’re flying into Morocco?”

Bruce shrugged, “It’s topical.”

“…And?”

“You understand me, Damian, better than I think you do.  I’m still nervous when it comes to you.  I want to provide you with the perfect home, and the perfect life, to make up for…for how you grew up with your mother.”

“Why?  Good people deserve perfection.  I’m not a good person.”

Bruce smiled sadly, choosing to keep to himself the fact that Damian had described his girlfriend as perfect just a few hours ago.  “You’re better than you think.”

Damian smirked, “You’re no closer to perfect than I am.  Since we’re so far off, what’s wrong with just providing a home and a life?  Either of those things is preferable to…to what I had.  I don’t think I even want perfect.  If I had perfect, I wouldn’t have my family.  None of us are perfect, and I think I prefer it that way.”

Bruce couldn’t hold back anymore, “Okay, so what is Robin’s flaw?  At the airport, you described her as perfect, but now you are saying you don’t want perfect.”

Damian’s eyes widened for a second, and Bruce knew he hit a flaw in the boy’s logic.  “Robin only has one flaw: she’s attracted to me.  In every other way, she’s perfect, but there must be some tragic underlying mistake that would cause her to take interest in someone like me.”

Bruce shook his head as he playfully ruffled Damian’s hair, “You’ll still tell me about Morocco at the hotel, right?”

The plane was descending into the airport as Damian said, “I’ll still tell you at the hotel, but just so you don’t get your hopes up, it is a far shorter story than the last one I told you in a hotel.”

They exited the plane and approached another driver holding a sign bearing the name ‘Wayne’.  Damian hinted that they should use one of the local drivers, instead of this hire, but Bruce pointed out that the man already had their luggage.  They were whisked away to their hotel, and a smile crossed Damian’s face when they arrived.  The hotel was located across the street from the market he had been telling Robin about earlier.

Damian told Bruce the sad tale of the only happy memory of his time with Talia, which made Bruce uncomfortable.  “You really did have it rough, growing up with her,” Bruce said softly, “Did you want to go out and see the old place tomorrow?  We have the day free.”

Damian shook his head as he changed into something more comfortable than the suit he wore on the plane.  “No.  I have no desire to ever see that place again.  It’s a nice memory, but it is in the past.  It will only serve to show me what I’ve lost.”

“Well, if you’re sure.”

Damian turned and opened his mouth, but stopped as his eyes widened, “There’s a chance she might be there, Father.  Father, we shouldn’t be here at all.  The League maintains a presence in this part of the world.  I can guarantee that our presence has been noted and reported, and we are probably being watched.”

Bruce sounded a bit concerned, “Do you really think we’re being watched, son?”

“Morocco was Talia’s safe haven, her refuge.  The last think she will want is us here.  Remember, she wants me dead.  You can’t be too far down on that list, either, with as many times as you’ve refused her and sided with me.”

Bruce patted Damian’s shoulder and said, “Let’s not go looking for trouble.  It has no problem finding us on its own.  Let’s enjoy our time here while we can.  What’s on our agenda?”

Damian thought for a second before a small smile alighted on his face.  “Get changed, Father.  We’re going shopping.”

Bruce and Damian walked across the street to the open-air market to look around.  As they worked their way deeper among the vendors, Damian’s face eased.  Bruce wondered if his son was as relaxed as he looked, or was displaying some of the acting talent Bruce was so familiar with.  Bruce walked over to a food vendor while Damian examined a display of knives, and purchased two beef kabobs.

Handing one to his son, Bruce said softly, “See?  No ninjas on the balconies.”

Damian murmured back, around a mouthful of spiced beef, “I’m not worried about ninjas, Father.”

“I don’t see any threats here, son.”

“That’s the idea, Father.  You don’t spot an assassin until they are sure it will be the last thing you ever see.”

More mindless wandering found the duo in front of a group of vendors selling jewelry.  Bruce smiled as Damian turned a critical eye to the selection.

“You never told me which one she chose?  Are we looking for a bracelet or a necklace?”

“Robin said to surprise her,” Damian said distractedly, as he set aside choice after choice.

“And how exactly are you going to do that,” Bruce asked amusedly.

“With both,” Damian said with a smile.

Bruce shook his head, looking at his son flatly, “I obviously give you too big of an allowance.  That ring you bought wasn’t cheap, and Dick said you didn’t even bat an eye at the price of the necklace from Disney World.  Now, you’re looking at two pieces for her?”

Damian held up a delicate-looking strand of silver, with small ruby pendants hanging from it, and said, “Three.  I think she might like an anklet, too.  She did say to surprise her.”

Bruce just shook his head with a small smile.  Damian looked up and caught the look.  He defended himself by saying, “Nothing is too good for her, Father.”

Bruce held up his hands defensively, “Did I say anything?”

The anklet was followed by a lacy silver bracelet and a woven gold necklace with a diamond pendant.  His wallet much lighter, but with an unending smile on his face, Damian turned to Bruce and said, “We should get a couple more of those kabobs, unless you had other plans for dinner.”

Bruce placed an arm around Damian’s shoulders and said, “I think that can be arranged.”

The following morning, Bruce walked into Damian’s bedroom in their suite.  The youth was lying on his side on the bed, admiring his purchases as they were laid out on the bed.

“Second thoughts?”

“No, Father,” Damian said without looking up, “Just imagining how they will look on Robin.”

Bruce sat on the edge of the bed and said, “Tell me the truth; you two made some sort of engagement plan when you gave her the ring, didn’t you?”

Damian winced, “Grayson told you?”

“I just want to make sure I have everything straight.  You shower her with gifts, you worship the ground she walks on.  What are you trying to do?”

“I’m trying to treat her the way she deserves to be treated.  She makes me happy in a way no one ever has before.  I don’t want to lose that.  I don’t want her to…to forget me.”

Bruce squeezed his son’s shoulder, “You don’t have to buy her, Damian.  If what Mike tells me, and what I’ve seen, are true, then she is hopelessly in love with you.  You should consider slowing down, though.  It’s still a little over five years before you are of legal age.”

Damian sighed heavily, “I know, Father.  It’s just another way the universe hates me.  I find someone I want to spend the rest of my life with, and we can’t be together.  You know I’m not patient.  Five more years might just kill me.”

“Mike and I will work something out.  You two will at least be able to see each other sooner than five years down the road.”

Damian sighed again, knowing that consideration would be the best he could expect.  He began to carefully put the jewelry away when Bruce asked, “We have today free, and this is, supposedly, your favorite country.  What do you want to do today?”

Damian looked down and said softly, “Anything I want to do?”

Bruce shrugged, “Name it and I’ll consider it.”

Damian took a deep breath, like he was about to impart a dear secret.  “I want to do something I’ve never done before.  Something Talia would never consider.”

_Did Dick teach him how to phrase requests to me in a way where I can’t say no?  No matter what it is, I have to say yes now, just to not look like Talia in his eyes._   “What is it, son?” Bruce asked softly.

“I…I want to go to the beach.  I’ve never done that before, at least, not with the intention of enjoying the beach.  I don’t think amphibious landings with a squad of Assassins counts.  I hear Grayson and Drake talking about it occasionally; I guess it’s something they do from time to time.  Except…”

Bruce cocked his head at his son and asked, “Except, what?”

“I don’t know what one is to do when they go to the beach,” Damian mumbled.  “I just want to know what it’s like, what Grayson finds so interesting about it.”

Damian looked down, like he had told Bruce something disappointing.  Bruce lifted the boy’s chin with a finger and gave him a small smile.  “A day at the beach?”  Damian nodded slowly as Bruce continued, “I didn’t bring a swim suit, and I don’t think you did, either.”

“No, Father.  I didn’t,” Damian whispered.

Bruce’s smile broadened.  “Then we should go shopping first.”

Damian’s eyes widened, “Are you serious, Father?”

“Are you kidding?  You and me on some secluded strip of Mediterranean sand, with nothing better to do than soak up some sun and be together?  That may be the best plan I’ve heard in a long time.”

Damian favored Bruce with his true smile, and the look was enough to keep a smile on Bruce’s face and a warm feeling in his stomach for the rest of the day.

_The Next Day…_

Their day at the beach had the desired effect of relaxing Bruce and Damian and clearing their minds before the negotiation.  They were shown into a small conference room, where three men were already sitting at the table.  The lead negotiator spoke in heavily accented, stilted English.

“Hello, Mr. Wayne.  Welcome to Morocco.  I am Hamid Kamir, CEO of North Africa Transport Company.  Thank you for considering our company for your local shipping needs.  Excuse me for pointing this out, but I’m not sure this is an appropriate place for children.  Why have you brought one with you today?”

To his credit, Damian’s look remained impassive and his mouth remained shut.  Bruce gestured to the boy and said, “This isn’t just a child.  This is Damian, my son, and the one who will eventually succeed me in running Wayne Enterprises.  I have brought him today for two reasons.  One, as my heir and successor, it is long past time that he started learning the intricacies of my business dealings.  Two, I understand, and can hear, that you would be more comfortable conversing in your native language.  Damian is fluent in Arabic.  He is more cost-efficient than hiring an interpreter.”

“This is a ploy.  It just shows how little this westerner regards these negotiations, that he would bring a child to the negotiating table and expect it to be an everyday occurrence,” one of the negotiators whispered in Arabic to Kamir.

Damian took a deep breath and replied in perfect Arabic.  “Excuse me for saying so, but you are wrong.  My Father takes these negotiations very seriously.  He also understands that these are very unusual circumstances.  If it would make you more comfortable, I will leave, but please provide for another interpreter before I go.”

The three men across the table sat back with wide eyes, and huddled to have a private moment.  Bruce leaned over to Damian and asked, “Subtitles, please?”

Damian whispered, “The one on the left, who hasn’t been introduced yet, feels that bringing a child into a business negotiation means that you don’t take this deal seriously.  I assured them that you do take this seriously, and offered to leave, if it would make them feel better.”

Bruce shook his head, “You aren’t going anywhere.  Having you here is my concession for coming to make this deal personally, instead of sending someone from Contracting.”

Kamir turned back to the Wayne’s with a grin that Bruce could tell was hiding something.  “Mr. Wayne, please excuse my colleague.  This is his first time dealing with westerners in a business setting.  We are as committed to this deal as you are, and are grateful that you had the foresight to supply your own interpreter for these proceedings.  Shall we begin?”

Bruce nodded once and said, “Yes, we should.  As you should be aware, Wayne Enterprises is always looking to expand to serve the global market.  To that end, we have always preferred to deal with local businesses when entering new markets.  Frankly, it would be far easier for me to just use FedEx Freight or UPS Worldwide to handle all of my shipping needs, but that would do nothing for the local economy.  I want to see the regions where I do business be as prosperous as possible.  I don’t run my company just to please the shareholders.  I want my business to have a positive effect all over.”

Damian tapped Bruce on the arm, to get him to stop talking so he could translate the speech, as he was reading some confused looks from the other side of the negotiating table.  Once the looks had evened out again, Bruce continued, “You have provided us with a very interesting bid.  Why don’t we start by going over your proposal?”

Bruce’s suggestion led to three and a half hours of back and forth discussion regarding the scope of the new partnership.  When they broke for lunch, Damian heaved a sigh of relief.”

“How are you holding up, son?”

Damian shook his head slightly, “This is what you do for a living, Father?  I think I prefer the mailroom.”

Bruce smiled and said, “It’s not the most glamorous side of the business, I agree, but it is one of the most important.  Making connections grows the business.”

Damian smirked, “This is a Contracting issue, right?  Why didn’t you send Grayson to handle this?”

“He is the one who started this deal.  Finalizing the contract happened to coincide with our trip, so we came instead.  What do you think so far?”

Damian looked across the room at their hosts before saying softly, “They’re hiding something from us.  I haven’t been able to figure out what yet, but it’s something.”

Bruce looked at the boy appraisingly, “You picked up on that, too?  Good.”

“What do you want to do, Father?”

Bruce met Damian’s eyes with a look born of the night, “What we always do, son.”

Damian rolled his eyes, but the Robin portions of his brain started activating at hearing Bruce’s voice drop a step closer to the Batman range.  “Right.  Continue on until we have a better idea of what we’ve gotten ourselves into.”

Bruce took a bite of his lunch, which was enough to get him to change his line of thought.  “I have to tell you, Damian, the food here is amazing.  I can see why you don’t want to leave here.  Why is it that Alfred doesn’t make something like this?”

Damian looked saddened as he said, “I don’t know if you remember, but he did try.  When I first came to live with you, he tried to make food that I would be more familiar with, and more comfortable eating.  He tried, but it never turned out quite right.  It was…adequate, but it wasn’t this, it wasn’t the real thing.  I was a…different person, then.  I didn’t hesitate to inform him that he got it wrong.  I hurt him, Father.  It didn’t bother me then, but it does now.  Even so, I haven’t quite been able to apologize sufficiently for the way I treated him that first year.  I just don’t know how I can make up for a year of abuse to a man who did nothing to deserve it.  I think we’ve moved past that now, and I believe we have a better relationship, but he’s never tried to cook Mediterranean again.”

Bruce took a couple deep breaths before saying quietly, “Alfred would say it’s in the past, and should stay there.  I can see that you feel bad about your past behavior.  You should still try to think of a way to make it up to him.”

“I’ve been trying for two years, Father.  Nothing ever feels like it’s enough to make up for the way I was.  I’ve done so many things I can’t atone for, I don’t want that to be one of them.”

Bruce thought for just short of a minute.  “You say he never got the recipe right.  Why don’t you consider showing him where he got it wrong?  He enjoys cooking with you.  Maybe for once, you can be the one doing the teaching.”

A small grin broke out on Damian’s face, and Bruce decided that the issue was done.  Alfred hadn’t mentioned problems of the type Damian obviously felt so deeply.  Bruce figured the butler had forgiven the boy, for such a thing to never have been brought to his attention.

As they were heading back to the conference room, Bruce stopped Damian in the hall and said softly, “Alfred has noticed, as much as I am starting to, how much you’ve grown over the past years, and I’m sure he’s forgiven your actions.  You say you have made attempts at restitution for two years.  I think you’ve succeeded.  Remember, Alfred called you while we were in England.”

Damian met Bruce’s eyes and said, “He said he couldn’t get in touch with you.  That’s why he called me.”

Bruce pulled out his cell phone and accessed the call log.  Handing the phone to Damian, Bruce smiled and said, “Are you sure?”

Confused, Damian scrolled down the list of calls.  “Wait.  The last time he called you was just after we left Gotham?  That’s just after our departure time.”

Bruce patted Damian’s shoulder, took the phone back, and entered the conference room.  Damian followed slowly, a second behind.

Once everyone was back at the table, Bruce said, “Your business plan and proposal seem to be very well thought out, for such a small company.  I applaud you on your preparation for this negotiation.  If everything else is in order, I believe we should review the contract, then get to the signing.”

Kamir smiled and produced a large stack of papers.  They were slid across the table to Bruce, who took one look at them and frowned.  “Is there something wrong, Mr. Wayne?” Kamir asked through Damian’s interpretation.

Bruce tried not to sigh, “This contract is written in Arabic, Mr. Kamir.”

The man looked confused, “We’re an Arabic company, Mr. Wayne.”

Bruce nodded, “Yes, I understand that, but in order for my Contracting department to be able to process this, I require a final copy in English.”

One of the other men appeared ready to protest, but was silenced by Kamir.  “We will have a copy translated before our business is concluded.  For now, shall we proceed with this copy?”

All eyes turned to Damian, who said, once in each language, “I am as capable of reading and writing in Arabic as I am of speaking.”

Bruce shrugged, “Then I guess the rest of today is up to you.”

It was agreed that, since Kamir and his associates already knew what was in the proposed contract, Damian would just read the paperwork in English to Bruce.  He started in, but was soon shaking his head.  Bruce thought it was from the strain of reading in one language and speaking in another.

On the second page of the contract, Damian stopped and rolled his eyes in frustration.  “Father, give me your pen.”

Bruce smirked while handing over the writing implement, “Going to just sign it, so you don’t have to read the rest of it?”

Damian shook his head, “I wouldn’t sign this, how it is right now, for anything.  I thought this was supposed to be a final contract?  There are so many spelling and grammar errors in here that any small dispute would be able to break this contract in court.  Let me mark out what needs to be fixed.  They can go back and fix it tonight before you sign anything.”

What should have been a two hour contract reading turned into a five hour grading session.  By the time they were done, it was too late to get a signing copy corrected and printed tonight, so the negotiation was forced into a second day.

Once back in their hotel, Damian flopped down on the couch with a frustrated sigh.  “They accuse you of not taking this negotiation seriously, then throw that poor excuse for a final contract on the table?  Why are you even considering going into business with them?”

“They made us the most attractive offer in the region, son.”

“Okay, but a high schooler could have written a better contract that that.”

Bruce smirked as he leaned over his son, “A high schooler _did_ write a better contract.  You wrote more on those pages than they did.”

Damian shook his head, “Something still bothers me about them.”

Bruce nodded, “What is it?”

“That’s just it, I don’t know,” Damian said, frustration in his tone.  “I feel like I should know them, but I don’t know from where.”

Bruce sat next to his son, “What is standing out to you?”

“Their name, first of all.  Kamir introduced them as North African Transport Company, but their letterhead reads East Atlantic Trading.  Then, there’s that contract.  It’s like…it’s like it was written in another language, then translated into Arabic, badly.  It seems more like a word for word translation, instead of a context translation.  An Arabic company, as Kamir claimed they are, wouldn’t make so many grammatical errors, if they were writing in their native language.  Are you sure they aren’t a shell corporation for another company?

Bruce shook his head, “I’m just going on Dick’s recommendation here.  If he says they’re worth working with, I can go ahead until we have a convincing reason to stop.  Don’t you trust your brother?”

“I do,” Damian grumbled, “but he has a habit of overlooking things at times.”

Damian had a sad thought occur to him, “Father, if this negotiation wasn’t happening, would we have any reason to come to Morocco on this trip?”

Bruce looked confused, “Well, no son.  Why?”

“When did Grayson set up this negotiation?”

Bruce thought for a second, “About a month ago.”

Damian closed his eyes and asked, “Was that before or after our trip to Florida?”

“After.”

Damian released a harsh breath, “Father, this whole thing was set up by Grayson so we could spend time in Morocco.”

Bruce leaned closer to Damian and said, “Is that such a bad thing?”

“For us, no.  For the company, maybe.  I’m betting that there is a more qualified candidate for this contract in another nearby country.  He wanted us to have a reason to come here, because he knew that you and I might never have reason to come here as Father and Son.”

Bruce shook his head and said softly, “Yeah.  That is something Dick would do.  Do you have any reason to not go forward with this contract?”

“No, Father.  Despite their inept ways, nothing is coming to mind right now.”

Bruce nodded, “Keep thinking about it.  Meanwhile, get changed and we’ll go get some dinner.”

As the clock struck midnight, Damian’s eyes snapped open.  He was shaking and sweating as he sat up in bed.  Damian had found their reason not to continue with the contract negotiations.

Padding into Bruce’s room, it took a second before Damian could speak.  “Father?”

Bruce started awake and turned sharply to the boy standing beside his bed.  Even in the darkened room, he could tell that his son was pale.  “Nightmare, son?”

“I wish, Father.  I figured out how I know this company.”

As he said that, his knees started shaking.  Bruce pulled the blankets aside, and the child all but collapsed onto the bed.  Bruce could feel tremors through the mattress as he pulled Damian into his lap.  “What is it, Damian,” he asked the trembling boy.

Damian curled up in Bruce’s lap and said, “One of the ships from this transport company was used to take me to Indonesia back when…back when I went undercover at the brothel.”

Bruce’s eyes widened, “You mean…”

Damian nodded shakily, “This company is a business partner of, or completely owned by, the League of Assassins.”

Bruce held Damian tightly.  Much to his surprise, Damian didn’t cry, he didn’t complain, he didn’t do anything.  Damian seemed numb.  He just sat there and let Bruce hold him.

Once he stopped shaking, he asked his father, “What are we going to do, dad?”

_I do love when he calls me dad.  I just wish he would do it all the time, not just when he was under extreme stress._   “We aren’t signing that contract, that’s for sure.  We’re going to go in there and explain that Wayne Enterprises doesn’t deal with businesses backed by organized crime, and we’re going to leave.  Right now, we’re going back to sleep.  The meeting isn’t until later in the morning, so we can sleep in a bit.”

Damian nodded lightly and slid out of Bruce’s lap.  He only went far enough to lay down next to his father before closing his eyes.  A pair of strong arms slid around the youth and held tight.

“I’m sorry all of this keeps coming up on our trip, son,” Bruce whispered.

“Can’t be helped, dad.  One of these days, we’ll find something that doesn’t trigger a painful memory for me.”  Damian yawned as he grabbed on to one of Bruce’s arms, “Grayson owes me so big for this.”

When Bruce and Damian arrived at the negotiating table in the late morning, their hosts were in the corner of the room, speaking in hushed tones.  Kamir looked up when the door opened and said, “You’re late, Mr. Wayne.”

“Our driver never showed up.  We had to make alternate travel arrangements.”

Kamir seemed annoyed as they sat back at the table.  He pushed a stack of papers across the table and said, “We have made your demanded corrections, and an English version will be available before you leave tonight.  Would you like to review the corrections?”

Neither Bruce nor Damian made any effort to reach for the paperwork.  Bruce folded his hands on the table and glared at the men across from him.  “That won’t be necessary.”

Kamir was visibly surprised, and reached into his suit jacket for a pen.  “Then you’re ready to sign the contract?”

Bruce ignored the pen and said, “I have no intention of signing that contract.  The only reason I came back to this room at all was to keep up business pretenses.  The bottom line is that Wayne Enterprises does not align itself with corporations backed by organized crime.”

The door to the conference room opened, and a man walked in carrying a tray with a pitcher of water and four glasses.  Bruce’s expression darkened slightly when a glass was deliberately not placed in front of Damian.

“I assure you, Mr. Wayne, we have no relationships with the criminal element.  This is my company, I would know if any of our affiliates participated in criminal activities.”

“The League of Assassins doesn’t exactly make a habit of making their presence known,” Damian said quietly.

Kamir and his associates all paled noticeably, telling Bruce that the presence of the League was anything but unknown.  The waiter, still in the room after delivering their refreshments, stood behind Kamir and stared at Bruce.  Suddenly, Damian jumped up and threw himself at Bruce, knocking the man to the floor with a shout of, “No!”

Recovering, Bruce asked, “What’s going on?”

“MOTHER…FUCKER!” the boy shouted.

“Damian!”  Bruce started to scold his son, but the rebuke died on his tongue as he saw Damian sit up and pull a throwing knife, the same throwing knife the waiter had been aiming at Bruce’s chest, out of the back of his left arm.  Bruce’s eyes widened as Damian then turned and launched the knife at his assailant, who was quickly heading for the exit.  The knife stuck in the door frame, barely an inch in front of the would-be assassin’s nose.  The man stopped, and was instantly slammed into the wall by a streaking, enraged youth.  They both fell to the floor, and Damian began raining hard blows down on the man’s face.  Bruce couldn’t help but notice that Damian only used his right arm to attack; his left hung stiffly at his side, with blood beginning to soak the material of his suit jacket.

The assassin managed to dislodge Damian from his chest and started to rise.  Bruce was anticipating that, and stood by to deliver a sharp kick to the would-be killer’s face, breaking his nose and delivering him to unconsciousness.

Bruce wheeled back on the three stunned men, still sitting at the table.  “You tell Talia Al-Ghul that she will never get her hands on me, my business, or my family again!  You tell her that if she _ever_ comes near my son again, it will take more assassins than she has to keep her safe.”

Bruce stalked over to the table and ripped up the contract before returning to help Damian up.  The youth was holding his arm and wincing as blood seeped around his fingers.  Bruce pulled out a handkerchief and wrapped it around the wound as they exited the building.  Flagging down the nearest taxi, Bruce shoved Damian in the back and said, “The nearest hospital, and step on it.”

Bruce paced around the waiting room an hour and a half later, grimacing each time he passed the sigh reading ‘waiting room’, and thinking _I hate waiting._   Upon arrival, Damian had been examined and taken back for surgery.  This concerned Bruce, who thought he would be able to sit and hold his son’s hand while the doctor stitched up the wound.  Bruce had been relegated to the waiting room, where he bugged the nurses every five minutes for an update.

As he stared out of a window, a voice behind him called out gently, “Mr. Wayne?”

Bruce spun and approached the smiling doctor, “I’m Bruce Wayne.”

The doctor shook Bruce’s hand and said, “Your son is fine, Mr. Wayne.  Going off of your report of the injury, I checked and found some muscle and nerve damage.  We’ve repaired that as best we can and closed the wound.  There were no complications.  We expect there to be some numbness as the nerves knit, but there should be no loss of function to the arm as a whole.”

A weight lifted from Bruce’s shoulders.  “Thank you, Doctor…”

“I’m sorry.  I’m Dr. Lopez.  He’s going to have some pain and stiffness for the next couple days.  I recommend no usage of that arm for the next three to four days, and no heavy lifting for at least a month.  I have to ask, Mr. Wayne, is there something going on with your son?”

“What do you mean,” Bruce asked suspiciously, wondering if Morocco had a version of CPS.

“Damian wouldn’t let us take his shirt off to fix him up.  He insisted that it was just the arm, and therefore we only needed to see his arm.  He ripped the sleeve off of his shirt himself.”

Bruce sighed, “Damian was raised by his mother.  She was very abusive towards him, and he’s really self-conscious of his scars.  He was also molested while under her care, if you can call it care, and he has problems with people trying to take his clothes off.”  Bruce decided that the truth would be easiest in this situation, and raise the least red flags with the doctor.

“Okay, Mr. Wayne.  They are setting him up in a recovery bed right now.  The nurse will take you back when he’s ready.”

The doctor turned to walk away when Bruce stopped him.  “Excuse me?  Doctor?  Forgive me for saying so, but your English is excellent.”

The man snorted, “It should be.  I’m from Chicago.  I’m with Doctors Without Borders.”

Bruce blushed a bit and said, “Sorry.  Thank you for fixing my son.”

Several minutes later, Bruce was led back to a recovery bed.  Damian was asleep, looking too pale for Bruce’s liking.  His left arm was bandaged and bound to his chest in a sling.  Bruce sat in the chair on the boy’s right and gently took the boy’s hand.  It was cool, but not alarmingly so.

The touch was enough to rouse the boy.  He glanced over and whispered, “Father?  Are you alright?”

“I should be asking you that,” Bruce said softly.

“The assassin?  He didn’t get you?” Damian pushed on, ignoring Bruce’s statement.

“He missed, thanks to you.”

Damian released the breath he had been holding.  He then yawned and said, “Sorry, Father.  I guess I’m a little tired.”

Bruce patted the boy’s hand, “It’s okay; you just rest.  You still have some of the anesthesia running through your system.  You’re going to be tired for a while.  Just rest, I won’t let anything happen to you.”

Damian nodded tiredly, his eyes slipping closed, “When can we get out of here?”

“I don’t know.  The doctor hasn’t said yet.”

Damian fell into a light doze as Bruce’s phone buzzed in his pocket.  _Who is this_ , Bruce thought after seeing the unfamiliar number on his caller I.D.  He answered the call with a, “Hello?”

“Bruce Wayne?”

Bruce was instantly on guard at the tone of the deep, masculine voice.  “That depends, who is this?”

“My name is Landon Washington, Mr. Wayne, U.S. State Department.  We’ve monitored some chatter that there has been an attempt on your life.  Are you okay?”

“They missed.  A man tried to stab me in a business negotiation.  He missed me and stabbed my son in the arm.”

“Where are you, Mr. Wayne?  I’ll order a security detail to your location.”

Bruce looked around and said, “To be honest, I don’t know.  I told the taxi driver to take us to the nearest hospital.  I don’t know the name of the facility.  Also, an escort isn’t necessary, but maybe a ride to the airport tomorrow?  We’ll be leaving the country as soon as I can get our flight changed.”

The man on the other end of the line sounded like he thought Bruce was crazy for not taking him up on the offer.  “Just tell us where you’re staying, and we’ll send a security detail over.”

Bruce wasn’t quite sure about the tone.  “Excuse me for saying so, Mr. Washington, but how do I know you are who you say you are?  This all just happened, like, two hours ago.  How did news leak out so quickly?

“We picked up intelligence chatter just before a story went out on the news wires, about thirty minutes ago.  It took us a bit to find a contact number for you.”

Bruce winced.   _If it’s on the news, Alfred will be calling any minute._   “Thank you for your concern, Mr. Washington, but I think I can handle this on my own.  I don’t think we are in any further danger here.”

Half an hour later, Bruce was signing Damian out of the hospital.  Before they could leave the lobby, Bruce’s phone rang again.  Bruce sighed as he answered, “I’m fine, Alfred.”

“I doubt that, Master Wayne.  The news is reporting that you survived an assassination attempt, and are at a hospital undergoing emergency surgery.”

Bruce took a breath, “Yes, I survived an assassination attempt.  Yes, I am just leaving a local hospital.  No, I did not require emergency surgery.  The news is reporting I was injured?”

“Yes, Master Bruce,” Alfred said in an exasperated tone.

“Well, they’re wrong.  It was Damian.  He’ll be fine.  He was stabbed in the arm and had a little touch-up surgery.  We’re leaving the hospital right now.”

Alfred’s voice sounded small to Bruce.  “…Master Damian?”

“Saved my life, Alfred.  Caught a threat that I didn’t, because I was focused on the meeting.”

“Did he?  Such an amazing child.”

Bruce handed the phone to Damian while he hailed a cab.  “Pennyworth?”

“Master Damian, how are you?”

Somehow, hearing Alfred’s voice made Damian feel pretty darn good.  “My arm is throbbing,” Damian said tiredly.

“That is to be expected, young sir.  When can I expect you home?  I need to know when to pick you up from the airport.”

Damian grew an odd look on his face, “Another week and a half, or so, Pennyworth.  I’m not going home until Father’s trip is done.  What’s to stop Talia from sending someone tomorrow to try to finish the job?  Father needs me.”

Damian heard a slight gasp from Alfred’s end of the call.  “Did you say Talia, dear boy?”

“You can’t be surprised, Pennyworth.”

“No, I guess not,” Alfred said with a sigh.  “Take care of yourself, young sir.  Get some rest.”

“Did you want to talk to Father again?”

“I will talk to him later,” the butler said, disconnecting the call.

They climbed into the cab and Damian said, “I suppose Grayson will be calling soon.”

Bruce nodded, “You’re probably right.  How are you feeling?”

“Tired, Father,” the boy said, leaning against the man as the taxi drove them to their hotel.  “Why can’t she just leave us alone?”

“You know the answer to that better than anyone, son.”

Damian sighed and said softly, “I guess I do.”

The cab was quiet for the rest of the trip back to the hotel.  Once in their room, Bruce called the airline and had their tickets changed to the following day, instead of the day after.  When Bruce hung up the phone, he found Damian staring at the bloody, torn suit jacket.

“I think we can write off this suit, Father.”

“Small price to pay for you still being alive.”

Bruce’s phone began ringing again, but a second later, so did Damian’s.  “Father, help.”

Ignoring his phone, Bruce asked, “What’s wrong?”

“My phone is in my left front pocket.  I can’t reach it with my arm in the sling.”

Bruce smiled and reached into the boy’s pocket as he answered his own phone.  Damian was able to catch his call before it went to voicemail.  “Hello?”

“Thank god, Damian.  Is your dad okay?”

Damian smiled at the tired, frantic voice on the line.  “Robin?  He’s fine.  Isn’t it the middle of the night where you are?”

Damian could hear the shrug through the phone, “Well, yeah, but I heard and I had to call.”

“How did you hear,” Damian asked, confused.

“I follow a Gotham news feed on Facebook.  It’s the top story, ‘Bruce Wayne survives assassination attempt’.”

Damian snorted, wondering who could have leaked the story so soon after it happened.  “He’s fine.  I’m the one with the stitches.”

“What?” The girl shouted.

Damian winced, “You remember what I told you about Talia?”

“Your mother,” the girl asked.

Damian shook his head at the description, “Yeah.  Well, she saw an opportunity and took it.  I caught it a second too late.  I knocked Father out of the way, but I was just a bit too slow.  Don’t worry, it’s just a couple stitches in the back of my arm.  You know I’ve had worse.”

The line was mostly quiet for a minute before Damian said gently, “Please stop crying.  I’m fine.  It’ll be stiff for a few days, but it will get better.”

“I can’t help it,” she sobbed, “You do too many dangerous things, Damian.”

“Robin, I was sitting at a negotiating table in a business meeting, interpreting for Father.  There was no reason to think there would be any danger there.”

“I’m sorry.  I can’t stand this.  I can’t stand being so far away from you.  My heart aches every time I get a news alert from Gotham.”

Damian sighed, “That’s just how it has to be right now.  We talked about this.  Robin, relax.  I love you too much to do anything to risk not seeing you again.”

“You better be careful, buster,” she said, bringing a smile to Damian’s face.  “You made several promises to me.  I’ll be pissed if you break even one of them.”

“Well, we can’t have that,” Damian said slyly.  “Do you know why I’m going to survive?”

“Why,” she asked, her voice much steadier now.

“Because I already bought your Christmas present, and I want to give it to you.  I need to be alive to see your reaction.”

“You really are going to spoil me, aren’t you?”

“That’s the idea,” Damian said with a smile.

They disconnected after expressing their mutual love for each other.  Damian turned and found Bruce staring at him.  Damian opened his mouth to comment on the smile on his father’s face, but Bruce interrupted, “Just happy to see you happy, son.”

Damian nodded, “Was that Grayson?”

_I think I know why, but why is he so caught up in hearing from Dick?_   Bruce shook his head, “Lucius.  He’s going to explain to the board that we aren’t going to be dealing with North Africa Transportation.  I got our flight changed to tomorrow afternoon.  We should get you out of that shirt, there’s blood on it.”

Damian sighed and started to unbutton the soiled garment.  Bruce helped him work the material around his sling.  Damian stared at the floor before saying quietly, “Father, until I get the use of my arm back, I request your assistance with several…personal tasks.”

“What sort of personal tasks, son?”

Damian looked up and said, “I noticed, getting in and out of the taxi, that bending and stretching pulls on the stitches.  It would probably be safest if you were to assist me with dressing.  The doctor also said that I shouldn’t get my arm wet until the stitches come out.  I would like to bathe sometime before then, you would probably like me to do that as well.  I believe it would be safest to have assistance in accomplishing that.”

Bruce stared gently at his boy, “Are you sure you want me to bathe you?  I will do it, but I don’t want you to feel uncomfortable with someone stripping you down and touching you.”

Damian met Bruce’s eyes with conviction behind his own.  “I trust you, Father,” he said in a soft but strong voice.

Bruce gave a soft smile and asked, “How can I help you, Damian?”

Damian walked towards his room, “I’d like to change clothes, Father.”

Bruce followed Damian to the bedroom and had him sit down.  Kneeling to untie his shoes, Bruce said, “For the record, this is just a little strange for me.  I haven’t helped one of my children change clothes since Dick.”

“When he was a child,” Damian asked.

Bruce looked up with a mischievous smile and a wink, “Just a couple weeks ago, actually.”

Damian gave the small laugh that Bruce had been hoping for as Bruce took his shoes off.  “Socks?”

Damian nodded, “I’ll have to change them eventually.  We aren’t going anywhere, right?”

“Just to the airport, tomorrow afternoon.”

Damian stood again, and Bruce hesitated in reaching for Damian’s belt.  Damian nodded and opened it himself.  Fumbling with the button and zip, Damian said, “It’s only a big deal if you make it a big deal, Father.”  Stepping out of the pants, Damian continued, “My pajama pants are in the top dresser drawer.”

Bruce retrieved the pants and helped situate them at the boy’s waist.  “Shirt?” he asked.

Damian looked at his arm and said, “My arm is really sore right now.  I really don’t want to move it.  Anyway, it’s a little warm in here.”

Bruce nodded, and they returned to the living room.  Bruce sighed as he sank down on the couch, but was surprised when Damian sat next to him and all but melted into his side.  Bruce wrapped an arm around Damian protectively, feeling all too lucky that they were both still alive.

“What do you want for dinner, son?  It’s getting close to that time.”

Damian closed his eyes and mumbled, “Whatever Pennyworth would make in this situation, Father.”

“That sounds good to me too, son,” Bruce murmured.

Several hours later, Father and Son dozed on the couch when a creaking noise from the window caused Damian’s eyes to fly open.  Hearing it again, Damian thought _no way is Talia going to attack my Father again._

Looking over without moving his head, Damian saw the window open, and a dark form block out the street light.  _Not this time,_ Damian thought, and in one second, he went from leaning against Bruce side to running across the room.

“Wait, Damian.  No!” Bruce called out, but it was too late. 

Damian jumped and launched a kick meant to send the intruder falling to the street, three stories below.  Instead, Damian hit what felt like a brick wall, and only a quick mid-air twist kept Damian from landing on his injured arm.  Damian hit the floor with a thump as Bruce turned on the light next to the couch.  Damian looked up to see Superman smiling down at him and holding out a hand to help the boy up.

“Ow,” the youth said as he reached for the outstretched hand.

“You need to be careful, Damian.  Hitting someone like that could shove them out of the window.”

“That was the general idea,” Damian grumbled as he walked back to Bruce.

Superman closed the window and shades, and winced as he looked at Damian walking across the room.  _I’ve never seen his scars before.  What Bruce and Dick told me doesn’t do them justice.  It looks like he had a lot of reasons to act the way he did when we first met.  That is too many stories for one so young._

“Any special reason for the house call, Superman?” Bruce asked.

Superman walked over and said, “You didn’t answer my call.  I wanted to make sure that the news flash that crossed my desk this morning wasn’t true.”

Bruce checked his phone and saw a missed call from Clark.  “We were sleeping.  It’s been a long day.”

Bruce related the story to Superman, but the Man of Steel spent more time watching Damian.  The boy had taken his previous position, held protectively under his elder’s arm.

“Sounds like a rough day,” Superman concluded.

“Not one of our better ones,” Damian grumbled.

“I can take you home, if you want, Damian.”

Damian lifted his head, “Why does everyone want me to go home?  I’m not done here.  Father needs me, if Talia decides to strike again.”

“Is that why you kicked me?” Superman asked with a grin.

“These rooms come equipped with doors, you know.”

Superman shrugged, “People tend to say something when they see me walking down a hall in a hotel in any city other than Metropolis.”

Damian looked at the super man, “Besides, how would that even work?”

“I could fly you.  As I remember, Dick enjoyed that mode of travel.  I’m sure you would, too.”

Damian shook his head, “No, I mean, how could I show up at home without my passport being scanned at customs?  I’m here as me, you know.  Father’s next stop is in China, and he doesn’t speak the language.  He needs me here.”

Superman nodded, “Okay.  You change your mind, just call me.  I can have you home in ten minutes.”

A crafty grin crossed Damian’s face.  “Perhaps you could take me somewhere else, and bring me back in a few hours?”

Bruce’s hand gripped the back of Damian’s head and turned the head to face him.  “If the next words out of your mouth are a request for a quick stop off in Fairbanks, Alaska, you will be sorely disappointed.”

Damian sighed greatly and mumbled, “Never mind.”

Superman just laughed as he got up to leave.  Standing back at the window, Superman turned and said, “Seriously, you two.  Call if you need anything.”

He was gone before either Damian or Bruce could answer.  He knew they wouldn’t say anything, so he didn’t wait for a response he knew wasn’t coming.

Damian walked back across the room, muttering, “He could have at least closed the window.”

_The Next Morning…_

“I know you’re not looking forward to this, Father, but it needs to be done.”

Bruce tried to hide his sigh as Damian handed him a wash rag and turned on the water in the tub.  Bruce knew his son’s history all too well, and did his best to keep up a running commentary of what he was doing when Damian couldn’t see him.  To his credit, Damian only flinched twice during the bath, once when Bruce hit a ticklish spot on his ribs, and once when he moved his left arm and felt the stitches pulling.

As Bruce toweled him dry, Damian said, “I told you it wouldn’t be that bad, Father.”

Bruce was feeling far more comfortable with the request as he helped dress his son.  “I have to say, I’m surprised.  You really are healing and adjusting, aren’t you?”

“I discovered something, Father.”

“What’s that,” Bruce asked curiously.

“These types of situations don’t seem to bother me when it is my decision.  I asked you to do this.  I knew what was going to happen.  It wasn’t a surprise, or anything I didn’t want to happen.  When I’m in control, I feel better.”

Bruce looked into Damian’s eyes as he buttoned the boy’s shirt.  “How does Robin feel about that?”

“She understands.  I’ve told her at least some of what happened to me.  She wants to hurt me about as much as you do, so she has left the speed at which we move up to me.  Before you ask, I know what it feels like to have that control taken from me.  I would never do that to another person, especially not her.  No one should ever be made to feel that way.”

Bruce smiled and said, “I’m proud of you, son.  Can you manage to pack on your own?”

Damian nodded, “Yes.  What should I do with yesterday’s suit?  I know the shirt is a complete loss, but will Pennyworth want to try to save the jacket?”

“Just toss it, son.  We’ll get you a new one.”

Damian held up the suit jacket and looked at the bloodstained arm again.  “This _was_ my new one.  Pennyworth just replaced one I grew out of before we left.”

Bruce smiled, “You’ll survive.  Finish packing while I shower and pack my own stuff.”

They made it to the airport and onto the plane with no issues.  As the plane lifted into the early afternoon sky, Damian watched the ground recede out of the window and said softly, “Father?”

“Yes?”

The boy heaved a sigh and said, “I don’t like Morocco anymore.”

Bruce just nodded and gently squeezed Damian’s shoulder.

Three-quarters of a day later, their plane landed in Shanghai.  There were met by an older English man, holding a sign bearing the name ‘Wayne’.  Bruce looked at the man strangely as they followed him to the baggage claim.

“Do I know you from somewhere?” Bruce asked.

The man winked and said in a very proper voice, “No, sir, but a good friend of ours wanted someone he could trust to drive you around during your stay.”

“You flew all the way here from London, to do a favor for Alfred,” Bruce asked.

The man smiled and said, “Taiwan, actually.  I retired there some years ago, and I owe Alfred far more than just this one favor.”

Damian smirked, “He instructed you not to share any of those stories with us, didn’t he?”

The man gave a laugh, “No, but her majesty, the Queen, did.  My name is Tom, by the way.”

They were whisked to their hotel through darkened streets.  Bruce looked around and asked, “What time is it, anyway?”

“Two forty-five, Mr. Wayne.”

Bruce shook his head, “It’s a good thing we have an extra day before our meetings.”

Bruce and Damian were checked in by a sleepy desk clerk, and trooped up to their room.  They were assured by Tom that he was staying in the same hotel, and was at their beck and call for their entire stay.

Bruce unlocked their door, but only opened it an inch before Damian whispered, “Stop, Father.”

Catching the look on Damian’s face, Bruce released the door and stepped to the side, out of the way of the door.  He raised an eyebrow, and Damian whispered, “The window is open, I can smell it.  Someone either is in there, or was in there.”

Bruce nodded and whispered, “Stand back.  I’ll go first.  Wait here.”

Damian nodded as Bruce kicked the door open.  A thump and a muffled grunt of pain met the action, and a light was turned on in the room.

“Peace!” a familiar voice called out, “We surrender!”

Bruce and Damian walked into the room, shaking their heads.  Bruce said, “What are you three doing here?  Shouldn’t you be at work?”

Nightwing, Red Hood, and Red Robin stood in the middle of the living room.  Red Robin was rubbing his shoulder, where the door hit it.

“Someone tried to take out our little bat,” Nightwing said, “We can’t allow that to happen.”

Bruce stared at them, “So, instead of picking up the phone, you three decided to invade China?”

Making sure the door and window were closed, Damian said, “They were aiming for the big bat.  I just got in the way.”

Dick peeled off his mask and hugged Damian, being careful of his arm, still in its sling.  Bruce said, “You still didn’t answer my question.”

Tim pulled back his cowl and said, “Lucius called us into his office and told us to go home until we heard more from you.  We all have enough vacation time saved up to take one Friday off.”

Bruce leaned in to whisper to Tim and Jason, “Tell me the truth, you all really came here so Dick could hug Damian, didn’t you.”  It wasn’t really a question.

“You’re the one who raised the big sap,” Jason murmured back.

“You didn’t leave Pennyworth in the Bat-plane, did you,” Damian asked, still held in Dick’s arms.

“No, we didn’t leave Alfie in the plane,” Dick said with a mock sigh.

Bruce continued the line of thought.  “He knows you’re on this side of the planet, though, right?”

The lack of an immediate response from his three oldest boys told Bruce everything he needed to know.  He shook his head, “He’s having a hard enough time with me and Damian out of his care.  You know he’s going to ground the three of you when you get home, and I’m going to support him fully.”

Jason dropped his helmet and flopped down on the couch.  “He’ll understand, when we tell him where we went.”

“He’ll ground you for even longer when he finds out you came here and didn’t offer to bring him along,” Damian said, sitting on the couch himself, only to have Dick come over and pull the boy into his lap.

Bruce gave a small smile at the tableau displayed before him.  All four of his boys were sitting on the same couch without arguing or fighting.  They had all come together to rally around one another, and that warmed Bruce’s heart.

It hurt Bruce to say, “As much as I appreciate all of you coming, we’ve been on a plane most of the day, and Damian is still recovering and needs his rest.  He’s barely staying awake now as it is.  It will be light in a couple hours, and you need to get my plane out of Chinese airspace before you lose the cover of darkness.”

Tim looked over and spoke softly, “I think he’s past ‘barely staying awake’ Bruce.”

Sure enough, Damian was sitting in Dick’s lap, his head laid back on his elder brother’s shoulder, his breathing deep and even in sleep.

Bruce sighed contently.  “Can you move him to the bed without waking him,” Bruce asked quietly.

“No.  Don’t wanna,” Dick whispered, his arms tightening around the youth.

They all quietly stared for a minute before Tim said, “We really only have a couple minutes before we have to leave, if we want to get out over international waters before daybreak.”

“I’ll take them,” Dick said, looking down at the peaceful face on his shoulder.

“Dick,” Bruce said softly.

“It hurts, Bruce.  It hurts every time I see one of them injured.  I wasn’t there to protect him.”

“No one was, Dick,” Bruce said compassionately, “He was there to protect me.  We couldn’t have predicted or prevented this, chum, and it could have ended far worse.”

“That doesn’t make this any easier, Bruce.”

“Why are you blaming yourself for something when you were halfway around the planet when it happened,” Damian muttered softly, his eyes still closed.

“Why shouldn’t I blame myself?”

Damian shrugged with his one good arm, “Actually, maybe you should.  Father said the company was your idea.  You should have known they were a front for the League of Assassins.”

The others in the room were shocked into silence at the exchange, waiting for it to unfold.  Dick started in shock, “How could I have possibly known that?” he whispered.

Damian lifted his head and stared into Dick’s eyes.  “Exactly.  You couldn’t have known any more than we did, so don’t blame yourself.  I don’t.”

“Come on, Golden Boy,” Jason said softly, “We’re out of time.”

Jason rose and donned his helmet.  Tim pulled his cowl back in place and went to hug Bruce.  Damian held up Dick’s mask and asked, “Will you call Robin for me?  Tell her I’m in China, and my phone doesn’t work here, but I miss her.”

Dick fitted his mask over his eyes and said, “Will do, Little D.  Be careful.”

“You, too.”

Tim was standing next to the window when Damian approached.  “Are you really going to be okay,” the third son asked.

Damian replied, “That depends.  Did you keep your promise?”

A smile broke out under the cowl, “Yes, and I’m already regretting it.”

That earned Tim a smile from the youth, “Good.  See you at home.”

Jason followed Tim out of the window after saying, “Be careful, Short Stuff.  I don’t really like these impromptu trips to China.”

“You didn’t have to come…but thanks anyway.”

“What’s this?  Gratitude from the ingrate?”

Damian snorted as Jason disappeared from sight.  Dick gave him one last hug, and the vigilantes were gone.  Bruce stood in the window with Damian, an arm draped around his son’s shoulders.

“You weren’t asleep at all, were you?”

“No, Father.”

“Then…”

Damian sighed, “Grayson flew around the world for that.  It would have been a waste for him to travel all that way for nothing.”

Bruce gave a small smile, “And, you got nothing out of that interaction?”

“Tt, of course I did.  I’m just saying, he needed to treat me like a teddy bear for a few minutes.  It didn’t hurt anything to let him.”

Bruce sighed happily, “Let’s get some sleep.”

Two days later, with the lion’s share of their jet lag slept off, Bruce and Damian toured a manufacturing facility.  Unlike many facilities in the country, this one received a top rating from environmental protection boards.  They were powered completely through solar energy.  They had their own in-house recycling facilities.  One hundred percent of their employees commuted to work either through public transportation or bicycles.

Bruce was considering this facility to aid production in Wayne Tech’s Green Energy Division.  There were several advanced projects going on there now, but domestic production facilities were having problems keeping up with demand.  Bruce really wanted to keep production within the United States, but it wasn’t remaining as cost-effective as he had hoped.

“That was an impressive facility, Father.  What do they make for us?”

Bruce smirked, “Nothing.  Today’s tour, and the tours over the next three days, are looking at sites for possible expansion.  Our domestic facilities are having trouble keeping up with demands.”

Damian’s head shot up, and a stunned look was present on his face, “So you’re going to outsource their jobs, because they can’t keep up?”

Bruce felt defensive, and was proud that his son was sticking up for his workers.  “I’m not outsourcing jobs.  This isn’t a punishment for having more orders than we can fill.  This is just a way to fill those orders.  All orders will still go to our domestic manufacturing facilities first, and any overflow will be sent to whichever site we choose over here.  We did the same thing with Tim’s laptop project.  We have a facility in Japan that handles those overflow orders, so we can meet demand.  The facility we saw in England does that for us, too.”

“Oh,” Damian said thoughtfully, “Then, business is going well, and this is a good thing?”

“Yes.”

“Okay.  Well, so far, my vote is for this place.”

“So far, I agree, but I think the most impressive thing I’ve seen today was you, just now, standing up for our workers.”

Over the next three days, Bruce and Damian toured a facility in Cheng Du, and two in Yunnan, but their vote remained for the first production facility, just outside of Shanghai.  Bruce sent an email to Lucius, to have Contracting get started on a deal with the Shanghai facility, and closed out his work for this leg of the trip.

The following morning, as Bruce sat on the edge of the tub, bathing his son, he said, “We’re leaving for the States in a few hours.  What did you think of the trip?”

Damian looked up and said, “We still have almost a week traveling in the United States, don’t we?”

_Does he sound sad?_   “Three or four days, yes.  Why do you ask?”

“I…I’ve enjoyed our time together, Father.”  Damian winced as Bruce lifted his injured left arm to clean his side, “Well, most of it.”

“I’m glad, son.  Did you learn anything?”

“Yes,” Damian said, with a smirk, “Don’t trust Grayson to pick contracted subsidiaries.”

“Anything else,” Bruce asked, rolling his eyes.

“Your job is far more involved than I thought it was.  One day, I hope to be able to do it nearly as well as you do.”

“Thank you, son,” Bruce said quietly, a hint of color darkening his cheeks.  He toweled the boy down and helped him get his pants on.  “I want to take a look at your arm.  I had Tom get us some supplied to re-wrap it.  It’s been a few days since I looked at it.  How does it feel?”

Damian shrugged, “It’s still a little stiff.  I haven’t been using it like I should.  No disrespect to Dr. Lopez, but I would feel better with Dr. Thompkins’ opinion on the wound.”

“She’ll be happy to hear that.  She likes you, too.”

Bruce carefully removed the gauze from the stitches.  Damian hissed as a loose end stuck to the material.  Bruce shook his head, “You’ve obviously been using it more than you think.  You popped a stitch.  It doesn’t look bad, though; it’s mostly healed.  I’m going to pull the popped stitch, you’re going to feel a tug.”

“I must have done that last night, Faaaaather,” Damian extended the word out as Bruce pulled out the broken stitch.  “I was sleeping on that side when I woke up this morning.”

Bruce finished cleaning the wound and put a fresh bandage over it.  “Looks good, no signs of infection.  The rest of the stitches should be able to come out in a few days.  You can move it, right?”

Damian lifted and bent his arm with a slight wince.  “It’s stiff, Father, but it will get better.”

“Any loss of feeling?  Dr. Lopez said he worked on some nerves back there.”

Damian nodded, “It feels weird.  There’s a numb spot on the back of my arm, like it’s asleep.  It seems to be just there, though.  I don’t feel anything different in my lower arm or hand.”

Bruce nodded slowly, “I think you can do without the sling.  Be careful with the arm, though.  Try to get your shirt on.”

Damian accomplished the feat with only a slightly disappointed look on his face.  “What’s wrong, son?”

“I’d gotten used to you doing things for me.”

Bruce smiled, “Just remember that when I’m old and senile.”

“I’d rather not think about that,” Damian said under his breath.

Half a day later, Bruce and Damian landed in San Francisco.  Instead of being met by a driver, they headed for the rental car counter.  Damian thought this was strange, given their last couple of weeks, but held his questions until they were safely in a non-descript sedan.

“Why do I get the feeling that this part of the trip isn’t for business?”

“Oh, it’s for business, just not the same business we’ve been conducting for the last two weeks.”

Bruce drove them to what appeared to be an abandoned office building, and drove into a low parking garage.  They entered the building silently, Damian’s bat-trained danger senses kicking on after several dormant weeks and urging caution.

“This is Wayne Enterprises most strategic holding,” Bruce said as they took an elevator to the basement.

The doors opened with a soft ding, and Damian’s jaw dropped.  “That’s a Zeta Tube,” he said, with wonder in his voice.

Bruce patted Damian’s back.  “Very good.  This building is listed in Wayne Enterprises holdings as ‘held aside for future development and expansion’.  However, no one outside of the family knows of its existence.  It is actually a Justice League safe house and travel point.”

Bruce flipped a series of switches, and machinery started to hum and glow as it powered on.  While waiting for the machinery to be ready, Bruce opened a hidden panel with a series of elaborate locks and pulled out a large suitcase.

Damian stared curiously and asked, “Father?”

Bruce opened the case and said, in Batman’s voice, “Get dressed, Robin.”

Affixing his mask over his eyes, he looked over at Batman, who was securing his utility belt.  “Is there some sort of problem that I’m not aware of, Batman?”

“No, we are performing a spot inspection on Titan’s Tower.  We need to make sure that everything is running smoothly, and that the Titans are keeping up with their business.”

Robin stopped before approaching the Zeta Tube.  “The Titans?”

“Is that a problem?”

“I don’t have a problem.  They might have a problem with me, though,” Robin said.

Batman turned from the control panel and said, “Explain.”

Robin sighed, “I tormented Red Robin for years.  He had to vent to someone.  I’m…I’m not their favorite person.”

Batman approached and placed both hands on Robin’s shoulders, and tried to meet his eyes through their lenses.  “Deal with it.  You knew that when you chose to change your behaviors, some people wouldn’t accept it right away, if at all.  You have to find a way to make this right, son.”

“I’ll try, Father.”

They materialized across town in a brightly lit room in a modern-looking building.  “You haven’t been here before, have you, Robin?”

“No, Batman.”

“Batman?”

An orange-hued woman walked into the transport room nervously.  “Is there a problem?  Do we have a mission, because it’s only Cyborg and myself here?”

“Spot inspection.  Justice League wants to make sure everything is being handled here.”

Starfire’s nervous expression fled.  “Oh, okay.  Everything is running smoothly.  You know where everything is, I’ll just let Cyborg know you’re here.”

Batman nodded as the woman left the room.  Once she was gone, Batman said, “You can come out now.”

Robin stepped out of Batman’s shadow.  He had done an admirable job of concealing his presence, to the point where Batman wasn’t actually certain if Starfire had noticed him.

“Sorry, Batman.  I panicked,” Robin said softly.

“You can’t run from this,” Batman said in an almost gentle voice.

“I know.  Let’s get this over with.”

Batman and Robin walked into the control center of the building as Cyborg pushed himself away from the main terminal.  “Batman.  Starfire just told me you were here.  I’ll get out of your way.”

“This will be quick.  I just need to take a look through the logs.”

Batman sat and got to work as Cyborg noticed Robin standing in the back of the room.  He walked over and couldn’t help noticing the wary look on the youthful vigilante’s face.

“Hello, Robin.”

“Cyborg,” Robin said with a nod.

“Red Robin’s told us a lot about you.”

Robin winced, “So he tells me.”

Cyborg crossed his arms over his chest, “He also says he doesn’t hold a grudge over the past.”

“I see,” Robin said carefully.

Cyborg spoke in a quieter tone, which set Robin on edge.  “With the things you’ve done to my friend, I should hate you, but Red is a good judge of character.  He seems to be happy with where the two of you are now, so I can take his word for it.  Since this is the first time we’re meeting,” Cyborg held out a hand with a smile.  Robin took it hesitantly as Cyborg continued, “Nice to meet you, Robin.”

Robin gave a small smile and another nod, not really knowing how to reply.  Cyborg smirked and said, “Yeah, Red said you would say that.”

Batman approached a minute later and said, “We’re done here.  Clean up the log files, it looks like you’re missing a few entries.  I’ve marked them out for you.”

“I’ll work on it,” Cyborg said as Batman walked out of the room, Robin following on his heels.

Starfire was walking by the transport room as Batman and Robin approached, “Done so soon?”

“I gave Cyborg my assessment.”

The orange woman’s attention turned to the youth.  “Robin?  I didn’t see you earlier.”

“No, you didn’t.”

“Did you just get here,” she asked pleasantly.

Robin’s cheeks turned slightly dusky as he admitted, “I…I hid when you spoke to Batman.”

Starfire looked strangely at the youth.  “Why?”

Robin looked at the floor as he said, “I know what Red Robin told you about me.  I figured you wouldn’t be too happy to see me.”

“Red Robin doesn’t hold it against you anymore,” Starfire said, shaking her head.  “There is no reason I should.”

Robin looked up warily, “Are you just saying that because Batman is here?  I really don’t deserve any extra chances for the things I’ve done.”

Starfire took a step closer and said, “First of all, Batman left when we started talking.”  Robin looked around, surprised that he missed Batman’s departure.  “Second, yes, you have done some bad things to Red Robin in the past, and I feel that was not necessary to do to such a nice person.  I think, you have realized the error of your ways, if Red Robin is to be believed.  I see no reason to take up someone else’s fight, especially when it’s over.”

“Why?” Robin asked.  “Cyborg said something similar, but I don’t deserve such consideration.”

Starfire shrugged as she walked away, “I don’t know you well enough to make that determination.”

Robin stood, stunned, until Batman’s voice summoned him to the Zeta Tube.

“Ready, Robin?”

The boy nodded, and they were transported back to the abandoned building.  They changed and headed to their hotel.

Damian asked, “What was the real purpose of that trip, Father?  Surely you could have accessed those logs offsite.”

Bruce shrugged, “It never hurts to keep them on their toes.”

“Why do I feel like you’re trying to keep _me_ on my toes?”

Bruce smiled, “Because it never hurts to keep you on your toes, either.”  Before Damian could ask another question, Bruce continued, “Damian, remember what I told you a couple weeks ago?  You need to have far more self-confidence than you have.  You’re worth it.”

Damian turned his head to the side in confusion, “What does talking to Drake’s friends have to do with self-confidence?”

“How about the fact that you did it?  As nervous as you were, you did it; and found that you are a little more accepted than you thought.”

A small smile crossed Damian’s face.  _He’s right.  That went far better than I thought it would._

Bruce caught the smile and said, “I want you to be happy, son.  Making others happy seems to make you happy.  You made Cyborg and Starfire happy by making up with Tim, which also made Dick, Tim, and me happy.”

They were silent until they were back in their room.  Once there, Damian surprised Bruce by hugging him tightly.  “Thank you, Father.  You’re right, I do feel better.”

“Good.  Let’s get some sleep.  If tonight’s trip made you feel good, tomorrow’s destination should send you sky high.”

“Where are we going,” Damian asked, still hugging Bruce.

“Back to the airport, but that’s all I’m going to say until we get there.”

_The Next Morning…_

“So, we really only came to San Francisco for last night’s meeting,” Damian asked with a yawn as he rubbed sleep from his eyes.  They were back at the San Francisco airport, less than ten hours after arriving.

Bruce shrugged, “Yeah.  I think it was worth it, though.”

“Yes, because jet lag is always fun,” Damian yawned sarcastically.

“It would have happened anyway,” Bruce said with a yawn of his own.  Bruce found it amusing that Damian hadn’t realized which counter he had picked up their tickets from.

“What sort of meeting do we have at our next stop,” Damian asked.

Bruce smirked cryptically, “Dinner.”

Damian was still confused, “Dinner?  It’s four-thirty in the morning.”

“It’ll be later when we get there.”

An announcement came over the loudspeaker, announcing their flight, and Bruce pulled the boy towards the gate.

Only as they waited in line to board the plane did Damian ask, “Father, why did the announcement say this was a flight to Fairbanks?  Or, am I just dreaming?”

“No, you heard right,” Bruce said, with a hidden smile.

“But, Wayne Enterprises doesn’t have any business holdings in Alaska.”

“No, we don’t.”

“But…”

Bruce interrupted, “Do you want to go have dinner with your girlfriend, or not?”

“Father, don’t tease me like this.  I’m not awake yet.”

Bruce raised an eyebrow, and Damian’s eyes widened.  He stopped in the jet way, blocking the other passengers as they tried to board while he hugged Bruce tightly.  “Thank you, Father.  How long are we staying?”

“Overnight,” Bruce said.

Damian gasped and gave a bright smile.  Bruce rolled his eyes and continued, “During which, you will be locked in the same guest room as me.  This is dinner, not a hook-up.”

“Will we be allowed to be alone at any time, Father?”

“Not in any bedroom, any room with a door that can be closed, or anywhere outside the house that you can’t be easily seen from inside the house.  Your clothes will remain on at all times, and if anyone calls either of you, you will answer, in person, immediately.  Is that understood?  If you don’t agree, we will get off this plane right now.”

“I agree,” Damian yipped happily, his face in danger of having his smile permanently etched on it.

Bruce smirked, “Damian?”

“Yes, Father?”

“Try to cheer up, okay?”

Several hours later, Bruce and Damian were met at the airport by a flying ball of blonde hair and high pitched giggles.

“Damian!”  Robin ran and jumped at the youth as soon as she saw him.  She almost knocked him over when she hit him at full speed, her legs wrapping around his waist and her arms locking around his neck.  With his arms wrapped around her back, he slid one up to the back of her head and directed her face to his, not caring about the looks they were getting from the rest of the airport.

Bruce stood next to Mike and shook his hand as they watched their children.  “I thought you were going to let it be a surprise, Mike?”

The man smiled, “Lisa told her last night.  She couldn’t stand the suspense anymore.  How’s the trip going?”

Bruce sighed as he watched his normally stoic son be blatantly happy in public.  “Long.  It will be nice to get home.  Unfortunately, I can already see the argument when we leave tomorrow.”

“So can I,” Mike agreed.

Bruce smiled, “Did I tell you that he asked to transfer schools to the one Robin will be going to?”

“What did you say,” Mike asked, a hint of nerves in his voice.

“I said no.  He understood.”

Mike sighed, “Good.  It’s going to be hard enough to keep them under control for one night.  I don’t want to imagine a whole school year.”

Bruce called out to their conjoined kids, “Damian, it’s going to be hard to carry your suitcase if you’re carrying Robin.”

Damian didn’t put the girl down as he walked up to the adults.  “I’ll manage, Father.  Hello, Mr. Abbey.”

“Hi, Damian,” the man said with a smile, “I wasn’t sure if you noticed me standing here.”

“Yes, sir.  I did.”

“Let’s go,” Bruce said, heading for baggage claim.

Watching the youths in the rear view mirror, Mike was surprised that they were able to breathe.  Robin would have been sitting in Damian’s lap if the parents hadn’t insisted on seat belts.  While they were kissing, Mike was impressed that they had the presence of mind to remember that they weren’t alone, and kept it fairly clean.

As they approached the house, Mike noticed that Damian was spending just as much time looking out of the window as he was looking at Robin.  He overheard the boy say, “I’ve never been to Alaska before.  You weren’t kidding; this looks nice.”

Robin had her head resting on his shoulder as she said, “It’s a much better environment than Gotham was.  I think I’m starting to like it here.”

Bruce glanced back in time to see Damian’s expression shift slightly, and his posture stiffen a bit.  Damian caught Bruce’s eye and winced.  _He knows something’s wrong.  I have to keep Robin from noticing._

Bruce turned back to look out of the windshield, but not before noticing two of Robin’s fingers unbutton one of Damian’s shirt buttons and slip inside to rub his chest.  Inferring from the location, Bruce guessed that she was running her fingers along the surgery scar on his upper chest.

Damian leaned down and kissed the girl, but they broke apart quickly with a sharp giggle.  “Hey!  No fair tickling,” he said with a laugh.

Robin pulled her fingers out of Damian’s shirt an instant before Mike looked back at the pair.

“Here we are,” Mike said as he stepped out of the car.

Bruce laughed as he looked at the house.  “Mike, this looks exactly like your house in Gotham did.”

The man laughed, “You noticed.  That was a big selling point with Lisa.  The inside is laid out almost exactly like our other house, too.  This one has an extra bonus room in the back, and a three car garage, instead of a two car garage.”

Damian whispered to Bruce as he pulled his suitcase out of the trunk, “See, I told you there would have been room for me to move here.”

“Grab your suitcase, lover boy,” Bruce whispered back.

As Bruce and Mike walked into the house, Robin held Damian back a second and said, “I noticed that earlier, whatever it was.  Just because I like it here, doesn’t mean I want to stay here forever.”

A smile crossed Damian’s face without him putting it there.  She returned the smile and said, “Yeah, that’s what I thought it was.”

Bruce stuck his head out of the front door and called out, “Hey!  Get in here already.”

Damian trudged dutifully into the house and muttered as he passed Bruce, “We could still be seen from the house.”

Bruce and Damian were greeted with friendly hugs from Lisa and Gina.  Gina poked Robin and whispered, just loud enough for Robin and Damian to hear, “I’m surprised you two didn’t try to lock yourselves in the car.”

Before they could respond, Lisa asked, “Well, what do you think?”

“It looks very…familiar,” Damian said with a smirk.

Lisa smiled back, “I know.  Weird, right?”

“Lisa, it looks great,” Bruce said.  “Are you all settled in?”

Lisa nodded, “With the house, yes.  I still don’t know my way around town yet.”

Bruce smiled, “Well, that will come in time.”

“So, we have you two set up in the guest bedroom.  If you want to follow me, you can freshen up a bit.”

Lisa led them up the stairs to a large room.  “You two will be staying here.  If you need anything in the night, Mike and my room is at the end of the hall.  The girls are the next doors, across from each other.  Feel free to use the restroom in the hall here; there is also an en-suite for you in the guest room.  Oh,” she looked around the room and said, “I asked Mike to bring the roll-away in here.  He must have ran out of time before he had to go pick you up.”

“That’s okay, Lisa.  That bed looks big enough for the two of us.”

“Are you sure, Bruce?”

Damian snorted, “He’s thinking that if he isn’t holding on to me in the night, I might try to sneak down the hall.  I might try it anyway, just to see if I can.”

Bruce looked at the boy and said, “You know there is a flight leaving for Gotham in two hours, right?  Don’t make me have to put you on it.”

Damian shook his head, “Figures you would memorize the flight schedule before we came here.”

“Just keeping our options open.”

“Thank you, Mrs. Abbey,” Damian said politely, “We’ll be fine with the one bed.”

“Good boy,” Bruce said.

Lisa smiled at the banter and said, “You two take your time.”

The door closed and Bruce wheeled on Damian.  “Remember the rules, Damian.  It might be a good idea to go over them with Robin, too.  Do not make me regret this, son.  This trip will judge the possibility of future trips, and the possibility of Robin coming to Gotham to visit you.”

Damian gasped at the idea.  Bruce took a deep breath and placed a hand on Damian’s shoulder.  “Look, I like the two of you together.  Everyone seems to like the two of you together.  Robin is good for you.  You might not notice it, but you’re a different person when you’re around her.  It’s just hard for me to see you…like this.  I never thought you, of all my sons, would be the love sick puppy.  You’re growing up fast, and it’s hard for me.”  Bruce sighed before continuing, “We are guests in their home.  It would be rude to take advantage of that.  It would also be foolish to try anything stupid, with both me and Mike here.  I know you’ve missed each other, and we only have a limited time here, but I’m begging you, and ordering you, don’t do anything that will cause this to be the last time you see Robin.”

Damian looked up with wide eyes and took a couple deep breaths before saying softly, “I don’t want to do anything that will mess this up, but when I see her, I just want to hold her.”

Bruce said, “Holding her is fine, just watch where your hands go.  Don’t put them anywhere that will make Mike want to cut them off.  Don’t disrespect him, her, yourself, or their home.”

“I won’t, Father.  I love her too much to jeopardize this.”

Bruce nodded, “Good.  Now, what happened in the car?”

Damian smiled, “It’s okay, now.  She said she liked it here.  I was just thinking, if she likes it here, she might not want to leave when we’re older.  I can’t move Wayne Enterprises to Alaska for her, no matter how much I like the idea.”

“But, it’s okay now?”

“Yes.  She felt me flinch in the car, too, and told me that, while she does like it here, she doesn’t want to stay here for the rest of our lives.  So, I still have a chance.”

Bruce smiled, “Good.  Get changed, so you can get back to making the adults in the house uncomfortable.”

Following a short tour of the house, while Bruce and Mike had a cup of coffee, and Lisa went to start dinner, Damian and Robin slipped away.  He stopped her before she tried to pull him upstairs.  It was a lot harder to stop her than he thought it would be.

“What’s wrong,” she asked.

Damian took a deep breath, “I…I can’t.  Not if I want to see you again.  Father gave me rules for our time together.  I’m not going to jeopardize any future time together for _that,_ even if we both want it.”

Robin’s eyes widened, “You want to?  You…you aren’t scared anymore?”

“I’m not scared anymore,” Damian said with a smile.  “Of our fathers and their reaction to that happening, yes, but not of you.  We should still wait.”

Robin hugged Damian, “We can wait until the right time.  We may not be scared anymore, but I’m still nervous.”

“Good.  We should be nervous; it’s a big step, and one that I am still unsure if I’m ready for.  Nervous is different than scared, and that’s okay.”

They walked into the front sitting room and sat very close to one another on the couch.  “What sort of rules did your dad give you,” she asked.

Damian smiled, “We can be alone, but it can’t be in any of the bedrooms, in any room that has a door that can be closed, and if we go outside, we have to be easily seen from the house at all times.  Also, if anyone calls either of us, we have to report in person immediately.  Father also threw in that I shouldn’t do anything that will disrespect your family or home.”

Robin nodded slowly, “That sounds an awful lot like the rules my dad gave me.”

Damian cocked his head with a smile, “What are the differences?”

“My dad said we could go into my bedroom or the guest room, but the door has to stay open at all times, and we have to let Gina know where we are.  She’s been assigned as our chaperone.”

“Damian!”  Bruce’s voice echoed down the hall.

Damian rolled his eyes and gave Robin a quick kiss on the cheek.  “Be right back.  He’s testing to see if I remember his rules.”

The boy hurried from the room, only to realize that he had no idea where his father’s voice came from.

“Damian!”  The voice called again, angrier this time.

“Father?”

“I said in person,” Bruce snapped.

“Where are you, Father?”

Lisa popped her head out of the kitchen and pointed towards the rear bonus room, where Damian jogged.

Standing in the doorway, Damian said, “Yes, Father?”

Bruce and Mike sat in comfortable-looking leather armchairs.  Bruce’s face was darkening closer to the color of the leather in anger.  “Why did I have to call you twice?”

“I couldn’t find you, Father,” Damian said nervously.  “I tried to find you after the first call.  Didn’t you hear me ask where you were?”

“Are you lying to me, Damian,” Bruce asked sternly.

“No, he isn’t,” Lisa said, walking up behind the youth.  “He was wandering the hall, looking for you.  I had to tell him where you were.”

Bruce nodded, “Okay.  What were you doing?”

“Robin and I were comparing the rules you and Mr. Abbey set out for us.”

The two fathers smiled at each other.  “…And?”

Damian shrugged, “I like Robin’s rules better.”

Bruce looked inquisitive, “Differences?”

“She can go into rooms with doors, so long as the doors stay open, and Gina knows where she is.”

Bruce nodded, “Well, I’m sure she won’t do that, because your rules aren’t changing.”

“I kinda figured they wouldn’t,” Damian grumbled gently.

“Where were you?”

“Front sitting room, Father.”

“Okay,” Bruce nodded again, “Go on; just come quicker the next time I call.”

Damian didn’t respond, because he disappeared as soon as Bruce said ‘go’.  Bruce chuckled to Mike, “He doesn’t move that fast when I’m telling him to attack henchmen.”

Mike smirked, “How many blonde, female, teenage henchmen, who are head over heels in love with him, do you run across?”

Damian was back in the front sitting room before Bruce had finished his departing sentence.  Smiling at the girl on the couch, Damian said, “Sorry about that.  He wanted to test me on the rules.  He’ll do it at least twice more.”

“How do you know?”

Damian shrugged, “Because I know my father.”

Robin asked, with surprise in her tone, “He doesn’t trust you?”

Damian smiled as he sat back on the couch.  “He never had to deal with anything like this with my brothers, at least not when they were as young as we are.  I get the feeling that, if we were a few years older, he wouldn’t be as…vigilant.  So, where were we?”

Robin leaned in to Damian, gently pushing him to lay back on the couch.  He moved without any force of effort on her behalf.  A hand tripped lightly up his chest, fingertips walking across the warm skin under his shirt.  She stopped with her face just an inch from his and whispered, “Right about here.”

“Sounds about right to me,” he responded quietly with a smile.

Half an hour after Damian returned to the sitting room, the couple hadn’t separated any farther apart than to take another breath, until rock music slowly faded into their consciousness.

“What the hell?  What is that?” Damian asked softly, confused.

Robin sighed and rolled her eyes as she sat up.  “That is ‘I Want to Know What Love Is’ by Foreigner.  That’s Gina’s way of letting us know she’s watching.  I think she thinks it’s funny.”

_That is a little funny,_ Damian thought.  “That’s the kind of thing my brother’s would do.”

“Very funny, Gina,” Robin called out sarcastically.

Gina came into the room, holding her cell phone in the air like a lighter at a concert, revealing the source of the music.  “I’m surprised you two can talk, sis.  It looked like you two were checking each other for cavities.”

“Damian!”

“Damn it,” the boy grumbled, rolling his eyes as he left the room.

Damian walked into the bonus room in time to catch Bruce’s phone.  “Father?”

Bruce nodded, “Thank you for being punctual, son.  Dick wants to talk to you.”

Damian put the phone to his ear and said, “Grayson?”

A happy voice responded, “Hey, Little D.  How do you like your surprise?”

“I was enjoying it greatly, until you called.”

“Were you?”  Damian could hear the smile from four thousand miles away.

“You knew,” he asked.

“Of course I knew.  I helped Bruce book the flights for your whole trip.  Listen, I just wanted to let you know that, if you’re really enjoying your surprise, I hid another surprise in your suitcase.”

“What is it,” Damian asked curiously.

“I slipped half a dozen condoms into the front pocket of your suitcase before you left.”

Dick sounded very self-satisfied, but Damian was horrified.  “What the hell are you trying to do to me, Grayson?  Are you serious?  What kind of sick joke is that?”

“It’s just a joke, Damian,” Dick said in a cowed tone.  He really thought Damian would laugh at it, not freak out.

Damian huffed angrily, “But it isn’t, is it.  It isn’t just a joke.  You really did that, didn’t you?”

“…Yeah.”

“Suppose that had been found before you explained what you did?  Do you know how much trouble you would get me in?”

“Damian, calm down.  If neither of you have found them so far, then there is nothing to worry about.”

Damian’s sigh turned into a growl.  “Then why do it at all?  You know how we feel about that.  You know Robin and I decided to wait until we’re older.  Why would you think that kind of joke would be funny, knowing where we are right now?”

Dick started speaking again, but Damian wasn’t listening.  He turned and threw the phone back to Bruce, none too gently, and said, “I don’t know where you went wrong with him, Father, but he needs to learn to grow up.  You talk to him, and get him to tell you what he did.  Then, you tell him just how stupid a thing that was to do.  Excuse me.”

Instead of returning to the sitting room, Damian walked past the two confused men and out into the back yard.  Bruce placed the phone to his ear and growled, “What did you do, Richard?”

Bruce could hear his son cringe.  “Full name?  Bruce, you’ve never called me that.”

A primal scream from behind the fathers caused them to turn in shock.  Damian was standing at the back fence, screaming out his frustrations at the top of his lungs while holding on to the wooden slats.  When he ran out of wind, Damian turned and slumped down to the ground, leaning against the fence with his face downcast.  Dick told Bruce the surprise left in the boy’s bag, then got an earful about appropriate actions.

Robin walked into the bonus room with a concerned look on her face.  “What was that, Daddy?”

Mike hitched a thumb at the boy in the back yard and said, “I don’t know what caused that yet, but would you please go and check on your guest.”

“Is he in trouble?” Robin quietly asked, with nervous tension in her voice, “We weren’t doing anything bad; Gina was with us.”

“I don’t think so,” Mike replied just as quietly, “but it sounds like his brother is.”

Robin started to walk to the yard when Mike grabbed her arm gently.  “Something he said stuck out to me.  Are you two deciding not to try to sleep together until you’re older?”

Robin flushed a deep red at being asked such a question so openly.  “Yes, Daddy.  I’ve told you that how many times now?  We’re too young.  We want to, but it wouldn’t be right for us right now.”

“Good girl,” Mike whispered with a smile.  “Go on.”

Robin left the room as Bruce hung up the phone and explained to Mike what Dick thought would be a good joke.  Neither father laughed.  However, they both now understood Damian’s reaction.

Robin approached slowly, knowing the temper her boyfriend tried desperately to hide from her.  She spoke softly, “Damian?”

He flinched at her voice and said softly, “I’m sorry you had to see this.”

“Ever since I saw you take down those guards, I’ve known you’ve been hiding this side of you from me.”

“I didn’t want to scare you,” Damian mumbled.  “I thought…I thought, if you didn’t see this side of me, you would think I was normal, that you weren’t getting a ticking time bomb, or a defective boyfriend.”

“There’s more than one side to all of us,” she said gently.  “Frankly, I’m glad you have this side.  You’re too nice, sometimes, Damian.”

The boy snorted and said, “No one has ever accused me of that before.”  Damian looked up sheepishly, “I’m sorry, Robin.  It’s just…Grayson did something stupid, and it set me off.”

“What did he do?”

Damian sighed, “He knows we’re waiting, and he did it anyway.”

“What, Damian?”

“Condoms.  He hid condoms in my bag, then called to let me know they’re there.  He called on Father’s phone, knowing I would be right next to him when he told me.  Why does he do things like that?  Now, Father will be watching us even more closely.  I’m surprised he isn’t out here with us right now.”

Robin couldn’t keep a smile off her face.  A short giggle escaped her lips.  “What did he expect to happen?  Did he really expect we could sneak something like that past our fathers?”

“Grayson told me he was proud of us for deciding to wait, why would he do this?  Sometimes, I just want to punch him.”

Robin reached out a hand and helped Damian up, before wrapping her arms around his neck and kissing him.  “The fact that this bothers you so much just makes me love you even more.  You know, we talked before the trip about something that would be fun to do together.  Do you want to try it now?  It might take your mind off your brother.”

Damian arched an eyebrow at the teen and grinned, “What did you have in mind?”

Bruce stood to stretch and look around the bonus room while talking to Mike.  Despite Dick’s lame excuse for a joke, the day was going fairly well.  Stopping at the rear window, he looked out over the back yard.  Suddenly, he started, as something looked off to him.  “What?  Where are they?”

Mike rose and joined Bruce at the window.  “We have a little more property, just behind the tree line.  Robin probably thought they would have a little more privacy back in the trees.”

“Is that really what you want to tell me, after what just happened?  I told him to be visible from the house at all times when outside.  I think I’ll book that return flight after I find him.  He better have a good excuse for this.”

Bruce reached for the door to hunt down his son when a noise caught his attention.  He listened for a few seconds before asking, “Mike?”

“Yeah, Bruce,” the man replied, a bit nervously.

“Do you guys have a piano?”

Mike showed Bruce to a rear-facing sunroom and opened the glass doors.  They found their youngsters doing, quite possibly, the last thing either Father thought they might do today.  Damian sat at the bench of an upright piano, tickling the ivories and smiling up at Robin, who stood next to the bench, playing her flute.  Both teens maintained constant eye contact for the next four minutes as they played.

When they finished, Bruce cleared his throat.  “What did I say about rooms with doors, even glass ones?”

Damian inclined his head towards a couch in the corner, where Lisa and Gina sat.  “You said we couldn’t be alone in them, and we haven’t been.  They’ve been with us since we came in from the back yard.”

Bruce gave a small smile, “Good.  I’m glad you remembered.  That was great, you two.  How about another?”

Damian looked at Robin and smiled as she sat on the bench and lifted her flute.  The impromptu concert lasted for the next forty minutes, only stopping because dinner was ready.

Bruce and Damian headed up to their guest room to wash up for dinner.  Bruce found Damian waiting for him when he exited the restroom.  “I’m proud of you, son.  I thought you and Robin would find some dark corner in a hallway, and not come up for air until Mike and I tore you apart.”

Damian smiled, taking a relieved breath.  “It’s been nice.  We got to learn a little more about each other today, and the music was fun.  We were playing for us.  It’s nice to know that we have more in common than just hormones.”

“You two sounded good together.”

Damian winced, “That sounds better than the way Gina put it.  She said we make beautiful music together.”

Bruce flinched, “I like my description better.”

“So do I, but to assure you that I do, here.”

Damian pulled the handful of condoms he had found in his bag out of his pocket.  He had searched his bag for them as soon as he got to the room.  He dumped the pile into Bruce’s outstretched hand.  Bruce stared deeply into Damian’s eyes and asked, “Is this all of them?”

Damian nodded, “Grayson told me there were six.  That is all I found.  Why did he do that?  He knows we’re waiting.  I don’t want to do anything that will make me lose Robin, I love her too much.”  Damian sighed, his mood crashing, “What time is our plane tomorrow?”

Bruce was surprised by the question.  “Why do you ask?  Are you ready to leave already, or are you trying to judge the limits of your willpower?”

“I just want to know how much time we have left,” Damian said sadly.

Bruce nodded, “Our plane leave at nine.”

Damian hung his head as he headed for the restroom.  “Oh.  That’s kind of early.”

He had almost closed the door when Bruce called out, “Damian, that’s nine at night.”

The boy’s mood took an instant turn, and his eyes sparkled.  A smile planted itself on his face and he said, in a heartfelt tone, “Thank you, Father.”

Dinner was a casual, spirited affair.  Robin sat as close to Damian as she could while they ate, their hands intertwined under the table.

Towards the end of the meal, Mike called out, “Damian, I didn’t know you were left handed.”

Damian looked at the man with a confused expression on his face.  “I’m not.”

Mike and Gina laughed as Bruce leaned over to whisper, not so quietly, in his son’s ear, “It’s a glass table top, son.”

Damian blushed as he looked down at his and Robin’s joined hands, visible clear as day to everyone in the room.  It didn’t help that he had been fumbling with his fork all through the meal in an effort to not have to let go of the girl’s hand.

Lisa shook her head, “Mike, stop making fun of them.  I think it’s cute.  Or, have you forgotten what we tried to get away with at their age?”

It was Mike’s turn to blush as Robin and Damian both smiled widely at the man.  “I remember all too well, which is why I’m so strict on the both of you.”

The party moved into the sitting room, where Robin and Damian made no effort to hide their affection for one another.  The only way they could have been snuggled more closely together would have been to be wearing the same clothes.  Mike and Bruce were both surprised, however, that they didn’t have to warn their children about going too far.  They seemed to be able to control themselves on their own.

As the night wore on, Bruce noticed that Robin and Damian stopped participating in the conversation.  He glanced over to find Robin asleep, with her head on Damian’s shoulder.  Damian was staring lovingly down into the face, a mere inch away.  The occasional light brush of a kiss landed on the girl’s forehead.  Even with the girl asleep, Damian still held her hand and held an arm tightly around her shoulder.

Bruce finally said, “Well, it’s getting late.  I hope you aren’t all staying up because we’re up.  I, for one, could use some sleep.”

Lisa yawned and stood, “That sounds like a good idea, Bruce.  Girls, bedtime.”

Robin started awake at Lisa’s call, bringing a slight frown to Damian’s face, which he quickly covered.  He followed Bruce out of the room after hugging Robin and bidding good night to the other Abbey’s.

Bruce stopped them at the bottom of the stairs.  He said quietly to his son, “Robin should be coming out in just a second.  You have two minutes to say good night to her before I come looking for you.”

Damian’s jaw dropped as Bruce walked away, up the stairs.  He turned back to the sitting room just as Robin walked into the hall.

“Damian, is everything okay?”

Damian smiled at the girl.  Not wasting a second of his allotted time, Damian approached and kissed the girl fiercely for just short of a minute.

“Father said it was okay,” he said breathlessly to the unasked question in her eyes, before kissing her again, leaving her light-headed and giddy as they walked up the stairs.  He hugged her once more, tightly, before entering the guest room.  Damian ran into Bruce as he walked backwards into the space, unable to take his eyes off of Robin, as she stumbled down the hall and into her bedroom.

Damian looked up at his smiling father, who said, “You still have fifteen seconds, Damian.”

Damian shrugged with a contented sigh, “You didn’t have to give us any extra time at all, and I figure the nine PM flight can easily become a nine AM flight, so I’m not going to push limits.  Thank you, Father.”

Bruce smiled as he hugged his son.  “Thank you for following the rules today.  I know it was difficult for you.”

“Yes,” the boy’s muffled voice said from Bruce’s chest, “but I think I learned something about myself today.  I’m going to take a shower.”

Several minutes later, Bruce was startled to hear Damian calling out to him.

“Father?  Father, come here, please.”

Bruce rushed to the bathroom to find Damian standing in the middle of the room, wearing just his pajama pants, holding out his left arm.  Bruce couldn’t help but notice that the sodden gauze was dripping on the floor.

Damian looked up and said contritely, “I forgot, Father.”

Bruce released the nervous breath he had been holding and approached his son, “It’s okay, Damian.  I need to look at your arm anyway.  Let’s get this gauze off and take a look, okay?”

Bruce peeled the wet bandage away from the wound slowly and tossed it in the trash.  He patted the area dry with a towel, and couldn’t help but notice that the water dripping off of Damian’s hair was cold.  He smirked as he thought _he had to take a cold shower; that must have been some goodnight kiss in the hall._

“They look pretty good, actually.  How does it feel?  Does it hurt at all?”

Damian shook his head, reaching back to gently pat the line of stitches.  “No, it doesn’t hurt.  I don’t feel anything.”  His eyes widened as he rubbed the area and repeated, “I don’t feel anything.  Father, I can’t feel my arm!”

“Damian, relax, calm down.  The doctor told us to expect some numbness.  Dr. Thompkins will examine you when we get home.”

A knock on the door was followed by Lisa’s concerned voice.  “Bruce?  Is everything okay?”

Bruce opened the door and said, “I’m sorry, Lisa.  Were we being too loud?  Damian forgot to keep his arm dry when he took a shower.  I was just looking at the wound.  It’s all healed up.”

Lisa looked past Bruce, to see Damian holding his arm up, trying to look at the wound in the mirror.  Her breath hitched as she saw his scarred back for the first time.  “Is there anything I can do,” she asked gently, “Do you need anything?”

Bruce looked back at his son, seeing what Lisa was growing pale over.  He smiled and said, “Actually, do you have a small pair of scissors and a pair of tweezers?  Those stitches can come out.”

Robin passed her mother as she walked out of the guest room and stopped in the doorway of the restroom.  “Is everything okay,” she asked worriedly.

Damian turned and smiled at the girl, standing there in her silk pajamas.  He held out a hand and said, “We’re fine.”

She walked past Bruce and took the boy’s hand, Bruce staring in shock.  Damian sat on the toilet and pulled her into his lap, wrapping his arms loosely around her.

“You said you couldn’t feel your arm.”

“It’s just a little numbness where I was stabbed,” Damian said, trying to allay her fears.  “I forgot that the doctor told us to expect that.  It surprised me.”

She eyed him warily, “You’re sure you’re okay?”

Damian smiled, “Of course.  Father is going to take out the stitches in a minute.”

Robin pulled a face.  “Eww.  I don’t think I want to see that.”

She made to get up, but Damian didn’t let go.  “You aren’t going to stay?  For moral support?”

“I don’t like the sight of blood.”

“It’s not going to bleed; it’s all healed up.  Look.”

Robin turned to look at the line of stitches on the back of her boy’s arm.  “Another scar,” she whispered.

“Yes,” he whispered back, “but unlike the others, this one I’m proud of.  This one, I earned.  This one saved my Father’s life, and I would do that again in a heartbeat.”

Lisa returned as Robin kissed Damian lightly.  “I love you, Damian, but I can’t watch this.  It’s just…eww.”

The girl shivered as she stood up and walked past Bruce and her mother.  Lisa stared after her before handing the tools to Bruce and whispering, “She doesn’t exactly seem shocked by his scars.”

“It’s not the first time she’s seen them,” Bruce replied.  “Remember, she came over for the barbeque?  They went swimming before dinner.”

Lisa nodded, “Right, I forgot.  You can just leave the scissors and tweezers on the counter when you’re done.”

Lisa left the room as Bruce turned back to his son.  “You will live dangerously,” Bruce said, shaking his head.

Damian’s eyes widened, and he answered innocently, “What did I do?”

“Fortunately for you, nothing too objectionable.”

“You were right there, I wasn’t breaking one of your rules.”

“Just remember who is around the next time you invite your girlfriend into a bathroom.”

Damian smirked, “So, you want me to wait until we’re alone before she sits on my lap in a bathroom again?”

Bruce sighed, “Damian…just be careful, okay?”  Bruce started snipping and pulling the remaining sutures.  “I know you love her, but take your time.  You’re done.  Put your shirt back on, before you need another cold shower.”

The following morning, Bruce was awakened when Damian got out of the bed.  He didn’t say anything, because a second later, the bathroom door closed.  He did say something, however, when Damian went rummaging through his suitcase, instead of coming back to bed.

“What are you doing, Damian,” Bruce asked without opening his eyes.

“Good morning, Father.  I was going to give Robin her present.”

“Good morning.  Isn’t it a little early to be sneaking into your girlfriend’s room?”

“It’s just after eight, Father,” Damian smirked at the man, “When would be a better time to sneak into her room?”

Bruce caught the smirk and gave a light glare.  “Eight-thirty.”  Damian’s eyes widened and he gasped in shock, until Bruce continued with a smirk of his own, “On the morning of your sixteenth birthday.”

Damian’s shoulders slumped, and he gave disappointed noise, “At least you’re willing to make that concession.”

“How do you even know she’s awake?”

“We’ve been texting since five-thirty.  Neither of us could sleep.”

Bruce sighed heavily, “Which one are you planning on giving her?”

“The anklet.  She did say to surprise her.”

Bruce closed his eyes.  “Get dressed first.  She can meet you in the sitting room.”

Damian’s eyes bulged, “Father?”

“It’s either there, or in here, with me right here.”

Damian was changed into day clothes in a time competitive with Superman’s time in a phone booth.  He sent a quick text to Robin before hugging his father and running out of the room.  Downstairs, Damian waited with something less than perfect patience for the five minutes before Robin joined him in the sitting room.

Damian smiled as he saw her.  _She dressed, but she isn’t wearing shoes.  This will work,_ he thought.  “Good morning, beautiful,” he said softly.

“Damian, what’s this all about?”

“I don’t know how much time Father will give us, so I have to do this fast.”

Robin looked at Damian strangely and said, “Do what…”

“Close your eyes,” Damian interrupted.

“What?”

“Close your eyes.”  Damian approached and kissed the end of her nose lightly.  “Trust me.”

Robin shrugged and closed her eyes.  Damian quickly kneeled and pulled out the jewelry.  _She even has beautiful feet; how is that possible?_   He attached the slender strand of silver with the drops of rubies around her left ankle and stood quickly, before the jewelry could settle around her leg.

“Damian!  What are you…” Robin trailed off with a gasp as she saw what had been fastened around her ankle.  “Damian, what is that,” she breathed.

The boy gave a smile and said, “You told me to surprise you.”

“Is this for real?”

Misunderstanding the question, Damian said, “Of course, it’s real.  I would never buy you imitation jewelry.”

Robin shook her head.  “That’s not what I meant.  I meant,” she looked into Damian’s eyes, “It’s beautiful.  Thank you.”

She hugged him tightly, bringing a bright smile to his face.  She whispered in his ear, “I wish you wouldn’t do things like that, though.  You really are going to spoil me.”

“That’s the plan,” Damian whispered, “I like doing things like that for you.  It gives me a reason to think about you all the time.  You know, seeing something and wondering if you would like it.”

“I’m going to have to come up with something really good for your birthday, now.”

“No, you don’t,” he countered softly.  “Every day I’m lucky enough to be around you is the best birthday present I could ever think of.”

Robin looked at Damian strangely, “So, it’s okay for you to do this, but it isn’t okay for me to do the same for you?”

“Just being with you is more than I ever hoped for.  I think this trip is actually Father’s birthday present for me.”

“Come on, you two.  Breakfast is ready,” Bruce’s voice called from the hall.

Robin turned to blush at Bruce as the man walked away, wondering how long he had been standing in the hall.  Damian took both of her hands and squeezed them gently.  “We should go.  Father won’t be too happy if he has to tell us a second time.”

Damian turned to walk out of the room, still holding one of her hands.  She followed him into the hall, where she stopped and gasped, nearly shouting, “Damian!  What’s this?  How did you do that?”

Damian smirked as she finally noticed to lacy silver bracelet that he slipped on her wrist when he held both of her hands.  “You said to surprise you.”

“Damian, this is too much.  It’s beautiful, and I love it, but you shouldn’t be doing all of this.”

Bruce, Mike, and Lisa came into the hall at the sound of Robin’s shout.  She showed off her new jewelry to her parents as Bruce murmured to Damian, “I thought you were just giving her the anklet?”

Damian shrugged, “Both pieces almost match.  They go so well together, I had to do both.”

Following breakfast, the couple returned to the sitting room, where they remained in constant contact for the next eight hours.  Robin nestled under Damian’s arm, admiring the bracelet and listening to Damian breathe.  Around noon, Damian yawned and laid down on the couch, pulling Robin down with him.  His arms were wrapped tightly around her waist, and they quickly fell asleep.

Bruce walked into the room an hour later, looking to check in on his son.  Bruce had been calling for the boy, and when he didn’t respond after the third summons, Bruce tracked him down.  Seeing the youths sound asleep, gentle smiles on both of their faces, Bruce lost any anger he might have been holding on to.  They weren’t doing anything wrong.  He brushed Robin’s hair out of Damian’s face before leaving the room quietly.

The next thing either of the sleeping youths knew, it was hours later, and Bruce was waking Damian to tell him that it was time to get packed to leave.  Robin’s jaw quivered as Damian sat up.  He placed a hand on her cheek and said, “No.  Don’t cry.  I don’t want my last memory of you in person for a while to be tears.  It’s not forever; yesterday and today should prove that.  Let me go pack, and I’ll be right back.”

Bruce looked at the boy as he walked into the open guest room.  He approached and hugged his son.  “I heard that.  That was very sweet of you.  I’m proud of you, son.”

Once at the airport, Damian and Robin didn’t separate until the final boarding call for the flight.  Following Damian’s request, Robin didn’t start to cry until after the guests had disappeared onto the plane.  Damian stared at the terminal through his window, wishing he could see into the building, but secretly glad that he couldn’t.

_She held it together so well.  I know she only did that for me.  I bet she started crying as soon as I got on the plane, kind of like I feel like doing right now._

“Father?”

“I don’t know when you two will see each other again,” Bruce said softly.  “However, given how you two behaved yesterday and today, I think you’ve earned a longer rope the next time you two are together.”

Damian looked up and whispered, “Thank you, Father, but I could have behaved better.”

“We always can, son.  I purposefully set you some difficult rules to follow, but you followed them better than I expected you to.  You wanted to do more, I could tell, but you held yourself back.  You showed great respect for Robin, for Mike and his home and family, and for yourself.  Like I said earlier, I’m proud of you, son.”

Damian leaned over and hugged Bruce, “Thank you, Father.”

Bruce’s arms wrapped comfortingly around his boy, and he was surprised when Damian’s breath started hitching.  “Damian?”

The boy looked up, a trail of tears on his cheeks.  “I miss her already, Dad,” Damian said as he lowered his face to Bruce’s chest again.

Two days later, and after stops at Wayne Enterprises manufacturing facilities in Texas, Illinois, Kentucky, and Pennsylvania, the weary travelers were glad to hear the announcement of their plane’s arrival at Gotham City International Airport.  Bruce and Damian walked to the baggage claim, and Bruce nudged his son.

“What do you think?  Who came to pick us up, Alfred or Dick?”

Damian cocked his head, a crafty look on his face, “What’s the bet?”

Bruce shrugged, “You set the terms.”

The boy smirked after thinking for a second, “Okay, you win, you can withhold my allowance next week.  I win, double allowance next week.”

Bruce snorted a laugh, “You’re on.  I say it’s Alfred.”

Damian checked the time on his phone, “It’s noon on a Friday.  I say that, not only is it both of them, but Grayson hugs me first.”

“What does noon on Friday have to do with anything?”

Damian shrugged as they picked up their bags, “He’s supposed to be at work, but the only place he will want to be is here.”

Bruce nodded, “Just remember, even if they are both here, Dick has to hug you first, without you rushing up to him, for you to win.”

“I know, Father.”

“There they are!”  Dick’s voice echoed across the terminal as Bruce and Damian approached.

Damian smirked and said, “Halfway there.”

“No fair cheating,” Bruce said, taking half a step ahead of Damian.

Alfred and Dick approached, and Alfred reached for Bruce’s bags.  “Welcome home, sir.  I trust the rest of your trip went as well as it could?”

“Hi, Alfred.  It was…fine.”  Bruce spoke to Alfred, but was watching Dick, as he bent down to hug Damian.  Damian returned the hug tightly, but held up two fingers to his father.

Bruce rolled his eyes and turned to Alfred, “You let him miss work for this?”

“You, of all people, should know that Master Dick will always come for you.”

Bruce didn’t reply as Dick engulfed him in a tight embrace and whispered, “I missed you, Dad.”

“You saw me a little over a week ago, chum.”

“…And what?  Is there a minimum time limit on when I can start to miss you?”

Damian walked over to Alfred and looked up at the man, “Hello, Pennyworth.”

Alfred inclined his head, “Master Damian.  I see you are no worse for wear.  I will need to inspect your arm when we get home, though.”

Damian gave a soft smile, “I thought you might.  Father removed the stitches when we were in Alaska.”

Damian could have sworn that a grin crossed the butler’s face.  “And how is Miss Robin?”

Damian took a deep, contented breath before saying softly, “Beautiful, Pennyworth.”

The front seat of the car held a lively conversation between Alfred and Bruce, discussing the business outcomes of the trip.  The back seat was mostly silent, until Dick leaned over and whispered, “Are you still mad at me, Little D?”

Damian sighed and closed his eyes, “I suppose not, but how many of your so-called jokes have to backfire before you realize they aren’t funny?  You need to grow up, Grayson.”

“And you need to act more like a kid.  How about we meet in the middle?  You teach me how to act like an adult, and I’ll teach you how to act like a kid.”

Damian looked up, a glimmer of hope in his eyes, and said, “Well, you did just win a bet with Father for me, so it’s a deal.”

Back at Stately Wayne Manor, Alfred and Dick grabbed the traveler’s suitcases and went quickly inside, leaving Bruce and Damian standing on the front porch.  Bruce opened the door to his ancestral home and looked at the foyer from the threshold, with Damian standing at his side.

“We’re home.”

“Yes, we…aaaah!”

Bruce couldn’t help but laugh as he watched Damian be tackled by a streaking, gray blur.  He looked back to see Damian lying flat on his back, with Titus standing on his chest, licking his face.  The boy was trying to ward off the giant tongue, but the wide grin and chuckles made it difficult to feel too sorry for him.  Dick, Jason, and Tim all came to the entryway and laughed at the sight.

From his back, Damian asked, “Did all of you just ignore my dog while I was gone?”

Jason shook his head, “Dick saw him every night.  They shared your bed.  You might want to think about changing your sheets before you go to sleep tonight.”

Dick elbowed Jason.  “You weren’t supposed to tell him that, just like I’m not supposed to tell Bruce that you were caught multiple times sleeping in his bed.”

Jason paled, and Bruce laughed deeply at the reaction.  “I missed all of you boys, too.”

_Monday Morning…_

Bruce sighed into his cup of coffee.  “I tell you, Alfred.  This is the part of the business trip I’ve been dreading the most.  It’s my company, I shouldn’t have to go into the office for another week, or so.”

Alfred was drying a dish as he said, “That is your option, sir, but perhaps, not the best example to set for the boys.”

Bruce sighed, “I know.  Hopefully, I can keep the meeting short.”

“Is it not just yourself and Mr. Fox, Master Bruce?”

Bruce nodded as he finished the last of his coffee.  “Yes, but I’m also submitting a written report, recapping the trip and the business dealings and outcomes.  I fully expect an impromptu meeting to be called this afternoon.”

“I’m ready to go, Father.”

Alfred and Bruce looked towards the kitchen door to see Damian walking into the room, still tying the tie around his neck to complete the suit he was wearing.  Bruce smiled as he recognized it as the new suit Alfred had taken Damian to buy yesterday, to replace the one destroyed on the trip.

“Go where, Damian?”

“To work,” Damian said, like it should have been obvious.  “School doesn’t start until next Monday.  If I heard you correctly, you are giving your report of the tour today.”

“I am,” Bruce said evenly.

Damian shrugged, “A large part of the tour was showing me your business.  I agreed to go on the tour.  The least I can do is finish it with you.”

Bruce smiled softly at his son, thinking _maybe today won’t be as bad as I thought it would be._   Bruce stood and straightened Damian’s tie, saying, “That may be the best offer I’ve had in weeks.  Come on, let’s hit the road.”

Father and son left the kitchen, and Alfred gave a satisfied smile as he saw Bruce throw an arm around Damian’s shoulders halfway down the hall.

 

 


End file.
